A  Library  Primer 


John    Cotton    Dana 


Sixth  Thousand 


Library   Bureau,   Chicago 


Copyright,    1910, 

by 
Library  Bureau 


n 


O 


To 

Samuel  S.  Green,  William  I.  Fletcher, 
and  Charles  A.  Cutter 


PREFACE 

A  library  primer  was  published  in  the  first  six  num- 
bers of  Public  Libraries  in  1896.  It  was  quite  largely 
made  up  of  extracts  from  an  article  by  Dr.  \V.  F.  Poole 
on  The  organization  and  management  of  public  libra- 
ries, which  formed  part  of  the  report  on  Public  libra- 
ries in  the  U.S.,  published  by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  edu- 
cation in  1876;  from  VV.  I.  Fletcher's  Public  libraries 
in  America;  from  Mary  W.  Pluinmt-r's  Hints  to  small 
libraries;  and  from  papers  in  the  Library  journal  and 
A.  L.  A.  proceedings. 

At  the  request  of  a  number  of  people  interested  I 
have  revised,  rewritten,  and  extended  the  original  draft 
for  publication  in  book  form.  Additional  material  has 
been  taken  from  many  sources.  I  have  tried  to  give 
credit  in  good  measure.  The  prevailing  tendency 
among  librarians  is  to  share  ideas,  to  give  to  one  an- 
other the  benefit  of  all  their  suggestions  and  expe- 
riences. The  result  is  a  large  fund  of  library  knowl- 
edge which  is  common  property.  From  this  fund  most 
of  this  book  is  taken. 

The  Library  Primer  is  what  its  name  implies.  It 
does  not  try  to  be  exhaustive  in  any  part  of  the  field. 
It  tries  to  open  up  the  subject  of  library  management 
for  the  small  library,  and  to  show  how  large  it  is  and 
how  much  librarians  have  yet  to  learn  and  to  do. 

The  City  Library.  J.  C.  D. 

Springfield,  Mass. 

1899. 

I  have  brought  lists  of  books,  magazines,  etc.,  down 
to  date  and  have  modified  the  text  as  changes  in  facts 
and  methods  since  1897  have  made  necessary. 
Newark,  N.  J.,  Free  Public  Library.  J.  C.  D. 

1909. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAOB 

i,  The  beginnings — Library  law 9 

ii,  Preliminary  work 10 

in,  What  does  a  public  library  do  for  a  community?  la 

iv,  General  policy  of  the  library 15 

v,  Trustees 17 

vi,  The  librarian 20 

vii,  The  trained  librarian                                             .    .  23 

vin.  Rooms,  building,  fixtures,  furniture. .  .  25 

ix,  Things  needed  in  beginning  work  30 

x,  The  Library  Bureau. . .  -39 

xi.  Selecting  books 

xii,  Reference  books  for  a  small  library  50 

xin,  Reference  work  58 

xiv,  Reading  room 62 

xv,  List  of  periodical^  66 

xvi,  Buying  book  68 

XMI,  Ink  and  handwriting 74 

xvni,  Care  of  books.  78 

xix,  Accessioning.  .  81 

\  x ,  Classifying 84 

x\i.  Decimal  classification  87 

\x 1 1,  Expansive  classification 90 

xxiii,  Author  numbers  or  book  marks 97 

xxiv,  Shelf  list 98 

xxv,  Cataloging 100 

xxvi.  Preparing  books  for  the  shelf 106 

xxvii,  Binding  and  mending no 

xxvni,  Pamphlets 1 16 

xxix,  Public  documents  1 18 

xxx,  Checking  the  library 121 

xxxi,  Lists,  bulletins,  and  printed  catalogs 122 

xxxn,  Charging  system 124 

xxxiii,  Meeting  the  public 130 


8  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

xxxiv,  The  public  library  for  the  public 131 

xxxv,  Advice  to  a  librarian 134 

xxxvi,  The  librarian  as  a  host 136 

xxxvn,  Making  friends  for  the  library 139 

xxxvin,  Public  libraries  and  recreation 141 

xxxix,  Books  as  useful  tools 142 

XL,  Village  library  successfully  managed 143 

XLI,  Rules  for  the  public 145 

XLII,  Rules  for  trustees  and  employe's 148 

XLIII,  Reports 154 

XLIV,  Library  legislation 155 

XLV,  A.  L.  A.  and  other  library  associations 160 

XLVI,  Library  schools  and  classes 164 

XLVII,  Library  department  of  X.  E.  A 166 

XLVIII,  Young  people  and  the  schools 167 

XLIX,  How  can  the  library  assist  the  school?   170 

L,  Children's  room 173 

LI,  Schoolroom  libraries 174 

LII,  Children's  home  libraries 176 

LIII,  Literary  clubs  and  libraries 178 

LIV,  Museums,  lectures,  etc 181 

LV,  Rules  for  the  care  of  photographs 182 


Library  Primer 

CHAPTER  I 

The  beginnings — Library  law 

If  the  establishment  of  a  free  public  library  in  your 
town  is  under  consideration,  the  first  question  is  prob- 
ably this :  Is  there  a  statute  which  authorizes  a  tax  for 
the  support  of  a  public  library?  Your  state  library 
commission,  if  you  have  one,  will  tell  you  if  your  state 
gives  aid  to  local  public  libraries.  It  will  also  tell  you 
about  your  library  law.  If  you  have  no  library  com- 
mission, consult  a  lawyer  and  get  from  him  a  careful 
statement  of  what  can  be  done  under  present  statutory 
regulations.  If  your  state  has  no  library  law,  or  none 
which  seems  appropriate  in  your  community,  it  may 
be  necessary  to  suspend  all  work,  save  the  fostering  of 
a  sentiment  favorable  to  a  library,  until  a  good  law  is 
secured. 

In  chapters  44  and  45  will  be  found  a  list  of  state 
library  commissions,  important  provisions  in  library 
laws,  and  the  names  of  the  states  having  the  best  library 
laws  at  present. 

Before  taking  any  definite  steps,  learn  about  the 
beginnings  of  other  libraries  by  writing  to  people  who 
have  had  experience,  and  especially  to  libraries  in  com- 
munities similar  in  size  and  character  to  your  own. 
Write  to  some  of  the  new  libraries  in  other  towns  and 
villages  of  your  state,  and  learn  how  they  began.  Visit 
several  such  libraries,  if  possible,  the  smaller  the  better 
if  you  are  starting  on  a  small  scale. 

9 


10  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  II 

Preliminary  work 

Often  it  is  not  well  to  lay  great  plans  and  invoke  state 
aid  at  the  very  outset.  Make  a  beginning,  even  though 
it  be  small,  is  a  good  general  rule.  This  beginning, 
however  petty  it  seems,  will  give  a  center  for  further 
effort,  and  will  furnish  practical  illustrations  for  the 
arguments  one  may  wish  to  use  in  trying  to  interest 
people  in  the  movement. 

Each  community  has  different  needs,  and  begins 
its  library  under  different  conditions.  Consider  then, 
whether  you  need  most  a  library  devoted  chiefly  to 
the  work  of  helping  the  schools,  or  one  to  be  used 
mainly  for  reference,  or  one  that  shall  run  largely  to 
periodicals  and  be  not  much  more  than  a  reading  room, 
or  one  particularly  attractive  to  girls  and  women,  or 
one  that  shall  not  be  much  more  than  a  cheerful  resting- 
place,  attractive  enough  to  draw  man  and  boy  from 
street  corner  and  saloon.  Decide  this  question  early, 
that  all  effort  may  be  concentrated  to  one  end,  and 
that  your  young  institution  may  suit  the  community 
in  which  it  is  to  grow,  and  from  which  it  is  to  gain 
its  strength. 

Having  decided  to  have  a  library,  keep  the  move- 
ment well  before  the  public.  The  necessity  of  the 
library,  its  great  value  to  the  community,  should  be 
urged  by  the  local  press,  from  the  platform,  and  in 
personal  talk.  Include  in  your  canvass  all  citizens, 
irrespective  of  creed,  business,  or  politics;  whether 


PRELIMINARY    WORK  II 

educated  or  illiterate.  Enlist  the  support  of  teachers, 
and  through  them  interest  children  and  parents.  Lit- 
erary, art,  social,  and  scientific  societies,  Chautauqua 
circles,  local  clubs  of  all  kinds  should  be  champions 
of  the  movement. 

In  getting  notices  of  the  library's  work  in  the  news- 
papers, or  in  securing  mention  of  it  from  the  lecture 
platform,  or  in  clubs,  and  literary,  artistic,  and  musical 
societies,  it  is  better  to  refrain  from  figures  and  to  deal 
chiefly  in  general  statements  about  what  the  library 
aims  to  do  and  what  it  has  done. 


12  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  III 
What  does  a  public  library  do  for  a  community? 

And  what  good  does  a  public  library  do?     What  is 
it  for? 

1)  It   supplies   the   public   with   recreative   reading. 
To  the  masses  of  the  people— hard-worked  and  living 
humdrum  lives— the  novel  conies  as  an  open  door  to 
an  ideal  life,  in  the  enjoyment  of  which  one  may  for- 
get,  for  a  time,  the  hardships   or  the  tedium  of  the 
real.     One  of  the  best  functions  of  the  public  library 
is  to  raise  this  recreative  reading  of  the  community  to 
higher  and  higher  levels;  to  replace  trash  with  litera- 
ture of  a  belter  order. 

2)  A  proper  and  worthy  aim  of  the  public  library 
is  the  supplying  of  books  on  every  profession,  art,  or 
handicraft,    that    workers    in    every    department    who 
care  to  study  may  perfect  themselves  in  their  work. 

3)  The  public  library  helps  in  social  and  political 
education— in  the  training  of  citizens.     It  is,  of  course, 
well  supplied  with   books  and   periodicals  which   give 
the  thought  of  the  best  writers  on  the  economic  and 
social  questions  now  under  earnest  discussion. 

4)  The   highest   and   best   influence   of  the   library 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  single  word,  culture.     No 
other  word  so  well  describes  the  influence  of  the  diffu- 
sion of  good  reading  among  the  people  in  giving  tone 
and  character  to  their  intellectual  life. 

5)  The  free  reading  room  connected  with   most  of 
our   public   libraries,    and   the   library   proper   as   well, 


WHAT     I)()i:s    A    PUBLIC    LIBRARY    DO?  13 

if  it  be  rightly  conducted,  is  a  powerful  agent  for 
counteracting  the  attractions  of  saloons  and  low  resorts. 
Especially  useful  is  it  to  those  boys  and  young  men 
who  have  a  dormant  fondness  for  reading  and  culture, 
but  lack  home  and  school  opportunities. 

6)  The  library  is  the  ever-ready  helper  of  the  school- 
teacher. It  aids  the  work  of  reading  circles  and  other 
home-culture  organizations,  by  furnishing  books  required 
and  giving  hints  as  to  their  value  and  use;  it  adds  to 
the  usefulness  of  courses  of  lectures  by  furnishing  lists 
of  books  on  the  subjects  to  be  treated;  it  allies  itself 
with  university  extension  work;  in  fact,  the  extension 
lecture  given  in  connection  with  the  free  use  of  a  good 
library  seems  to  be  the  ideal  university  of  the  people. 

The  public  library,  then,  is  a  means  for  elevating 
and  refining  the  taste,  for  giving  greater  efficiency  to 
every  worker,  for  diffusing  sound  principles  of  social 
and  political  action,  and  for  furnishing  intellectual 
culture  to  all. 

The  library  of  the  immediate  future  for  the  Ameri- 
can people  is  unquestionably  the  free  public  library, 
brought  under  municipal  ownership,  and,  to  some 
extent,  municipal  control,  and  treated  as  part  of  the 
educational  system  of  the  state.  The  sense  of  owner- 
ship in  it  makes  the  average  man  accept  and  use  the 
opportunities  of  the  free  public  library  while  he  will 
turn  aside  from  book  privileges  in  any  other  guise. 

That  the  public  library  is  a  part  of  the  educational 
system  should  never  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  work  of 
establishing  it,  or  in  its  management.  To  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  it  comes  as  their  first  and  only 
educational  opportunity.  The  largest  part  of  every 
man's  education  is  that  which  he  gives  himself.  It  is 


14  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

for  this  individual,  self-administered  education  that 
the  public  library  furnishes  the  opportunity  and  the 
means.  The  schools  start  education  in  childhood; 
libraries  carry  it  on. 


GENERAL    POLICY    OF    THE    LIBRARY  15 


CHAPTER  IV 

Suggestions  as  to  general  policy  of  the  library 

In  general,  remember  always  i)  that  the  public 
owns  its  public  library,  and  2)  that  no  useless  lumber 
is  more  useless  than  unused  books.  People  will  use 
a  library,  not  because,  in  others'  opinions,  they  ought 
to,  but  because  they  like  to.  See  to  it,  then,  that  tl.e 
new  library  is  such  as  its  owner,  the  public,  likes;  and 
the  only  test  of  this  liking  is  use.  Open  wide  the 
doors.  Let  regulations  be  few  and  never  obtrusive. 
Trust  American  genius  for  self-control.  Remember  the 
deference  for  the  rights  of  others  with  which  you  and 
your  fellows  conduct  yourself  in  your  own  homes,  at 
public  tables,  at  general  gatherings.  Give  the  people 
at  least  such  liberty  with  their  own  collection  of  books 
as  the  bookseller  gives  them  with  his.  Let  the  shelves 
be  open,  and  the  public  admitted  to  them,  and  let  the 
open  shelves  strike  the  keynote  of  the  whole  admin- 
istration. The  whole  library  should  be  permeated  with 
a  cheerful  and  accommodating  atmosphere.  Lay  this 
down  as  the  first  rule  of  library  management;  and  for 
the  second,  let  it  be  said  that  librarian  and  assistants 
are  to  treat  boy  and  girl,  man  and  woman,  ignorant 
and  learned,  courteous  and  rude,  with  uniform  good 
temper  without  condescension;  never  pertly. 

Finally,  bear  in  mind  these  two  doctrines,  temper- 
ing the  one  with  the  other:  i)  that  the  public  library 
is  a  great  educational  and  moral  power,  to  be  wielded 
with  a  full  sense  of  its  great  responsibilities,  and  of 


1 6  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

the  corresponding  danger  of  their  neglect  or  perver- 
sion; 2)  that  the  public  library  is  not  a  business  office, 
though  it  should  be  most  business-like  in  every  detail 
of  its  management;  but  is  a  center  of  public  happiness 
first,  of  public  education  next. 


TRUSTEES  17 


CHAPTER  V 
Trustees 

[Condensed  from  paper  by  C.  C.  Soule] 

1)  Size  of  the  board. — The  library  board  should  In- 
small,   in   small   towns   not   over  three   members.     In 
cities  a  larger  board  has  two  advantages:  it  can  im -link- 
men  exceptionally  learned  in  library  science,  and  it  can 
represent    more   thoroughly    different    sections   of   the 
town  and  different  elements  in  the  population. 

2)  Term   of  office. — The   board   should   be   divided 
into  several  groups,  one  group  going  out  of  office  each 
year.    It  would  be  wise  if  no  library  trustee  could  hold 
office  for  more  than  three  successive  terms  of  three 
years  each.     A  library  can,  under  this  plan,  keep  in 
close  touch  with  popular  needs  and  new  ideas. 

3)  Qualifications. — The    ideal    qualifications    for    a 
trustee  of  a  public  library — a  fair  education  and  love 
of  books  being  taken  for  granted — are:     sound  char- 
acter,   good   judgment,    common   sense,    public    spirit, 
capacity  for  work,  literary  taste,  representative  fitness. 
Don't  assume  that  because  a  man  has  been  prominent 
in  political,  business  or  social  circles  he  will  make  a 
good  trustee.     Capacity  and  willingness  to  work  are 
more  useful  than  a  taste  for  literature  without  prac- 
tical qualities.     General  culture  and  wide  reading  are 
generally  more  serviceable  to  the  public  library  than 
the  knowledge  of  the  specialist  or  scholar.     See  that 


1 8  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

different  sections  of  the  town's  interests  are  repre- 
sented. Let  neither  politics  nor  religion  enter  into 
the  choice  of  trustees. 

4)  Duties. — The  trustee  of  the  public  library  is 
elected  to  preserve  and  extend  the  benefits  of  the 
library  as  the  people's  university.  He  can  learn  library 
science  only  by  intelligent  observation  and  study.  He 
should  not  hold  his  position  unless  he  takes  a  lively 
interest  in  the  library,  attends  trustees'  meetings,  reads 
the  library  journals,  visits  other  libraries  than  his  own, 
and  keeps  close  watch  of  the  tastes  and  requirements 
of  his  constituency.  His  duties  include  the  care  of 
funds,  supervision  of  expenditures,  determination  of 
the  library's  policy,  general  direction  of  choice  and 
purchase  of  books,  selection  of  librarian  and  assistants, 
close  watch  of  work  done,  and  comparison  of  the  same 
with  results  reached  in  other  libraries. 

A  large  board  ordinarily  transacts  business  through 
its  chairman,  secretary,  treasurer,  and  one  or  more  com- 
mittees. It  is  doubtful  if  the  librarian  should  act  as 
secretary  of  the  board.  The  treasurer,  if  he  holds  the 
funds  in  his  hands,  should  always  be  put  under  bonds. 
It  is  well  to  have  as  many  committees  as  can  be  actively 
employed  in  order  to  enlist  the  cooperation  of  all  the 
trustees. 

The  executive  committee  should  take  charge  of  the 
daily  work  of  the  library,  of  purchases,  and  of  the 
care  of  the  building;  they  should  carry  their  duties 
as  far  as  possible  without  assuming  too  much  of  the 
responsibility  which  properly  belongs  to  the  full  board. 
It  will  be  best  to  entrust  the  choice  of  books  to  a  bool: 
committee  appointed  for  that  purpose  purely.  The 
finance  committee  should  make  and  watch  invest- 


TRUSTEES  IQ 

ments  and  see  that  purchases  are  made  on  most  favor- 
able terms. 

5)  Relations  with  the  librarian. — The  trustees  are  the 
responsible  managers  of  the  library;  the  librarian  is 
their  agent,  appointed  to  carry  out  their  wishes.     If 
they  have,  however,  a  first-class  librarian,  the  trustees 
ought  to  leave  the  management  of  the  library  prac- 
tically to  him,  simply  supplementing  his  ability  with- 
out impeding  it.     They  should  leave  to  a  librarian  of 
good  executive  ability  the  selection,  management,  and 
dismissal  of  all  assistants,  the  methods  and  details  of 
library  work,  and  the  initiative  in  the  choice  of  books. 
A  wise  librarian  the  trustees  may  very  properly  take 
into  their  confidence,  and  invite  his  presence  at  all 
meetings,  where  his  advice  would  be  of  service. 

6)  Other  employes. — Efficiency  of  employes  can  best 
be  obtained  through  application  of  the  cardinal  prin- 
ciples  of  an   enlightened   civil   service,   viz.,   absolute 
exclusion  of  all  political  and  personal  influence,  appoint- 
ment for  definitely  ascertained  fitness,  promotion  for 
merit,  and  retention  during  good  behavior. 


20  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  librarian 

If  circumstances  permit,  the  librarian  should  be 
engaged  even  before  the  general  character  of  the  library 
and  plan  of  administration  have  been  determined  upon. 
If  properly  selected,  he  or  she  will  be  a  person  of  experi- 
ence in  these  matters,  and  will  be  able  to  give  valuable 
advice.  Politics,  social  considerations,  church  sym- 
pathies, religious  prejudices,  family  relationship — none 
of  these  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  his  selection. 
Secure  an  efficient  officer,  even  at  what  may  seem  at 
first  a  disproportionate  expense.  Save  money  in  other 
ways,  but  never  by  employing  a  forceless  man  or  woman 
in  the  position  of  chief  librarian. 

Recent  developments  of  schools  of  library  economy, 
and  recent  rapid  growth  of  public  libraries  throughout 
the  country,  have  made  it  possible  for  any  new  library 
to  secure  good  material  for  a  librarian.  If  lack  of 
funds  or  other  conditions  make  it  necessary  to  employ 
some  local  applicant,  it  will  be  wise  to  insist  that  that 
person,  if  not  already  conversant  with  library  economy, 
shall  immediately  become  informed  on  the  subject.  It 
will  not  be  easy,  it  may  not  be  possible,  for  trustees 
to  inform  themselves  as  to  library  organization  and 
administration.  They  can,  however,  with  very  little 
difficulty,  so  far  inform  themselves  as  to  be  able  to 
judge  whether  the  person  they  select  for  their  chief 
officer  is  taking  pains  to  acquaint  himself  with  the 
literature  of  the  subject,  or  trying  to  get  in  touch  with 


THE    LIBRARIAN  21 

the  knowledge  and  experience  of  others.  They  should 
not  submit  for  a  moment  to  ignorance  or  indifference 
on  the  part  of  their  chosen  administrator.  Success  or 
failure  of  a  library,  as  of  a  business,  depends  on  the 
ability  of  the  man  or  woman  at  its  head,  and  only 
trained  men  and  women  should  be  in  charge.  The 
business  of  the  librarian  is  a  profession,  and  a  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  the  subject  is  never  so  much  needed 
as  in  starting  a  new  enterprise. 

The  librarian  should  have  culture,  scholarship,  and 
executive  ability.  He  should  keep  always  in  advance 
of  his  community,  and  constantly  educate  it  to  make 
greater  demands  upon  him.  He  should  be  a  leader 
and  a  teacher,  earnest,  enthusiastic,  and  intelligent. 
He  should  be  able  to  win  the  confidence  of  children, 
and  wise  to  lead  them  by  easy  steps  from  good  books 
to  the  best.  He  has  the  greatest  opportunity  of  any 
teacher  in  the  community.  He  should  be  the  teacher 
of  teachers.  He  should  make  the  library  a  school  for 
the  young,  a  college  for  adults,  and  the  constant 
center  of  such  educational  activity  as  will  make  whole- 
some and  inspiring  themes  the  burden  of  the  common 
thought.  He  should  be  enough  of  a  bookworm  to  have 
a  decided  taste  and  fondness  for  books,  and  at  the 
same  time  not  enough  to  be  such  a  recluse  as  loses 
sight  of  the  point  of  view  of  those  who  know  little 
of  books. 

As  the  responsible  head  of  the  institution,  he  should 
be  consulted  in  all  matters  relating  to  its  manage- 
ment. The  most  satisfactory  results  are  obtained  in 
those  libraries  where  the  chief  librarian  is  permitted 
to  appoint  assistants,  select  books,  buy  supplies,  make 
regulations,  and  decide  methods  of  cataloging,  classi- 


22  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

fying,  and  lending;  all  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
trustees.  Trustees  should  impose  responsibility,  grant 
freedom,  and  exact  results. 

To  the  librarian  himself  one  may  say:  Be  punctual; 
be  attentive;  help  develop  enthusiasm  in  your  assist- 
ants; be  neat  and  consistent  in  your  dress;  be  dignified 
but  courteous  in  your  manner.  Be  careful  in  your  con- 
tracts; be  square  with  your  board;  be  concise  and 
technical;  be  accurate;  be  courageous  and  self-reliant; 
be  careful  about  acknowledgments;  be  not  worshipful 
of  your  work;  be  careful  of  your  health.  Last  of  all, 
be  yourself. 


THE    TRAINED    LIBRARIAN    IN    A    SMALL    LIBRARY       23 


CHAPTER  VII 
The  trained  librarian  in  a  small  library 

Julia  A.  Hopkins,  of  the  Rochester  (N.  Y.)  Public  library,  in  Public 
Libraries.  December,  1897 

The  value  of  training  for  the  man  or  woman  who 
shall  take  charge  of  a  large  city  library  is  now  so  firmly 
established  that  no  one  thinks  of  discussing  the  ques- 
tion. If  it  is  true  that  technical  training  is  essential 
for  the  headship  of  a  large  library,  why  is  it  not  equally 
necessary  for  that  of  a  small  library?  Trained  service 
is  always  of  greater  value  than  untrained  service,  be 
the  sphere  great  or  small.  If  a  woman  argued  from 
the  standpoint  that,  because  the  house  she  was  to  take 
charge  of  had  only  seven  rooms  instead  of  twenty  she 
needed  to  know  nothing  of  cooking,  sweeping,  and  the 
other  details  of  household  work,  I  am  afraid  that  her 
house  and  her  family  would  suffer  for  her  ignorance. 
So  in  many  departments  of  library  work  the  accident 
of  size  makes  little  or  no  difference;  the  work  is  pre- 
cisely the  same.  The  difference  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  head  of  a  large  library  oversees  and  directs  the 
work  done  by  others,  where  the  village  librarian  must, 
in  many  cases,  do  all  of  the  work  himself.  In  the  dis- 
tinctly professional  duties,  such  as  the  ordering,  classi- 
fying, and  cataloging  of  books,  there  is  a  difference 
only  in  amount  between  the  greater  and  the  less.  And 
it  is  precisely  these  professional  duties  of  which  the 
person  untrained  in  library  work  is  in  most  cases 
wofully  ignorant. 

It  is  inevitable  that  in  starting  a  library  there  should 
be  some  mistakes  made;  but  with  a  trained  librarian 
in  charge,  these  mistakes  will  be  fewer  in  number.  For 


24  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

example,  what  does  the  novice  know  of  classification? 
He  realizes  that  the  books,  for  convenience  in  use, 
must  be  grouped  in  classes.  If  he  has  had  the  use  of 
a  good  library  (as  a  college  student  would)  he  has  some 
idea  as  to  how  the  class  divisions  are  made,  and  knows 
also  that  there  must  be  some  sort  of  notation  for  the 
classes.  Necessity  being  the  mother  of  invention,  he 
contrives  some  plan  for  bringing  together  books  on 
the  same  subject.  But  with  the  addition  of  books  to  * 
the  library  and  the  demand  which  growth  makes,  he 
finds  that  constant  changes  have  to  be  made  in  order 
to  get  books  into  their  right  places;  and  then  some 
day  he  awakens  to  the  fact  that  there  is  some  per- 
fectly well-known  and  adopted  system  of  classification 
which  will  answer  all  his  purposes,  and  be  a  great  deal 
more  satisfactory  in  its  adaptability  to  the  needs  of 
his  library  than  the  one  he  has  been  struggling  to  evolve. 
Then  he  exclaims  in  despair:  If  I  had  only  known  of 
that  at  the  beginning!  He  feels  that  the  hours  which 
he  has  spent  in  rearranging  his  books,  taking  them  out 
of  one  class  and  putting  them  into  another,  although 
hours  of  such  hard  work,  are  in  reality  so  many  hours 
of  wasted  time.  And  he  is  right;  for  every  minute 
spent  in  unnecessary  work  is  so  much  lost  time.  Not 
only  that,  but  it  is  unnecessary  expense,  and  one  of 
the  most  important  things  which  a  small  library  has 
to  consider  is  economy. 

Is  it  not  of  value  to  the  library  that  its  librarian 
should  know  how  best  to  expend  the  money  given 
him  to  use?  that  he  should  not  have  to  regret  hours 
of  time  lost  over  useless  experiments?  Surely  if  train- 
ing teaches  a  librarian  a  wise  expenditure  of  money 
and  an  economy  of  time,  then  training  must  be  valuable. 


ROOMS,    BUILDING,    FIXTURES,   FURNITURE  25 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Rooms,  building,  fixtures,  furniture 

The  trustees  will  be  wise  if  they  appoint  their 
librarian  before  they  erect  a  building,  or  even  select 
rooms,  and  leave  these  matters  largely  to  him.  They 
should  not  be  in  haste  to  build.  As  a  rule  it  is  better 
to  start  in  temporary  quarters,  and  let  the  building 
fund  accumulate  while  trustees  and  librarian  gain  experi- 
ence, and  the  needs  of  the  library  become  more  definite. 
Plans  should  be  made  with  the  future  enlargement  of 
the  building  in  view;  libraries  increase  more  rapidly 
than  is  generally  supposed. 

Rooms  of  peculiar  architecture  are  not  required  for 
the  original  occupation  and  organization  of  a  library. 
The  essential  requirements  are  a  central  location,  easy 
access,  ample  space,  and  sufficient  light.  The  library 
and  the  reading  room  should  be,  if  possible,  on  the 
same  floor.  Make  the  exterior  attractive,  and  the 
entrance  inviting.  In  arranging  the  rooms,  or  build- 
ing, plan  from  the  first,  as  already  suggested,  to  permit 
visitors  to  go  to  the  books  themselves. 

A  collection  of  the  printed  matter  on  library  archi- 
tecture should  be  carefully  studied  by  both  trustees 
and  librarian  before  any  plans  are  made.  While  no 
specific  plan  can  be  recommended  that  would  suit  all 
cases,  there  are  a  few  general  rules  that  meet  with 
the  approval  of  the  library  profession  as  a  whole. 
They  may  be  thus  summed  up,  following  in  the  main 
a  paper  on  the  subject  by  C.  C.  Soule: 


26  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

"A  library  building  should  be  planned  for  library 
work 

Every  library  building  should  be  planned  especially 
for  the  kind  of  work  to  be  done,  and  the  community 
to  be  served. 

The  interior  arrangement  ought  to  be  planned 
before  the  exterior  is  considered. 

No  convenience  of  arrangement  should  be  sacrificed 
for  mere  architectural  effect. 

The  plan  should  be  adapted  to  probabilities  and 
possibilities  of  growth  and  development. 

Simplicity  of  decoration  is  essential  in  the  work- 
ing rooms  and  reading  rooms. 

The  building  should  be  planned  with  a  view  to 
economical  administration. 

The  rooms  for  public  use  should  be  so  arranged  as 
to  allow  complete  supervision  with  the  fewest  possible 
attendants. 

There  should  be  throughout  as  much  natural  light 
as  possible. 

Windows  should  extend  up  to  the  ceiling,  to  li^ht 
thoroughly  the  upper  part  of  every  room. 

Windows  in  a  book  room  should  be  placed  opposite 
the  intervals  between  bookcases. 

In  a  circulating  library  the  books  most  in  use 
should  be  shelved  in  floor  cases  close  to  the  delivery 
desk. 

A  space  of  at  least  five  feet  should  be  left  between 
floor  cases.  (If  the  public  is  excluded,  three  feet  is 
ample.) 

No  shelf,  in  any  form  of  bookcase,  should  be  higher 
than  a  person  of  moderate  height  can  reach  without  a 
stepladder. 


ROOMS,    BUILDING,    FIXTURES,    FURNITURE  2^ 

Shelving  for  folios  and  quartos  should  be  provided 
in  every  book  room. 

Straight  flights  are  preferable  to  circular  stairs. 

The  form  of  shelving  which  is  growing  in  favor  is 
the  arrangement  of  floor  cases  in  large  rooms  with 
space  between  the  tops  of  the  bookcases  and  the  ceil- 
ing for  circulation  of  air  and  the  diffusion  of  light. 

Modern  library  plans  provide  accommodations  for 
readers  near  the  books  they  want  to  use  whatever 
system  of  shelving  is  adopted. 

Single  shelves  should  not  be  more  than  three  feet 
long,  on  account  of  the  tendency  to  sag.  Ten  inches 
between  shelves,  and  a  depth  of  eight  inches,  are  good 
dimensions  for  ordinary  cases.  Shelves  should  be 
made  movable  and  easily  adjustable.  Many  devices 
are  now  in  the  market  for  this  purpose,  several  of 
which  are  good." 

Don't  cut  up  your  library  with  partitions  unless 
you  are  sure  they  are  absolutely  necessary.  Leave 
everything  as  open  as  possible.  A  light  rail  will  keep 
intruders  out  of  a  private  corner,  and  yet  will  not 
shut  out  light,  or  prevent  circulation  of  air,  or  take 
away  from  the  feeling  of  openness  and  breadth  the 
library  room  ought  to  have. 

For  interior  finish  use  few  horizontal  moldings;  they 
make  traps  for  dust.  Use  such  shades  at  the  windows 
as  will  permit  adjustment  for  letting  in  light  at  top 
or  bottom,  or  both.  The  less  ornamentation  in  the 
furniture  the  better.  A  simple  pine  or  white-wood 
table  is  more  dignified  and  easier  kept  clean  than  a 
cheaply  carved  one  of  oak.  But  get  solid,  honestly- 
made,  simple  furniture  of  oak  or  similar  wood,  if  funds 
permit.  Arm-chairs  are  not  often  desirable.  They 


28  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

take  up  much  room,  are  heavy  to  move,  and  are  not 
easy  to  get  in  and  out  of  at  a  table.  In  many  cases 
simple  stools  on  a  single  iron  standard,  without  a 
revolving  top,  fastened  to  the  floor,  are  more  desirable 
than  chairs.  The  loafer  doesn't  like  them;  very  few 
serious  students  object  to  them. 

A  stack  room  for  small  libraries  is  not  advisable. 
Don't  crowd  your  cases  close  together  unless  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

An  excellent  form  of  wooden  case  is  one  seven  feet 
high,  with  shelves  three  feet  long  and  seven  and  a  half 
inches  wide,  supported  on  iron  pegs.  The  pegs  fit 
into  a  series  of  holes  bored  one  inch  apart  in  the  sides 
of  the  case,  thus  making  the  shelves  adjustable.  These 
pegs  can  be  bought  in  the  market  in  several  shapes. 
The  shelves  have  slots  cut  in  the  under  side  at  the  ends 
to  hold  the  projecting  ends  of  the  pegs,  thus  giving 
no  obstructions  to  the  free  movement  of  the  books. 
With  some  forms  of  pegs  the  slots  are  not  needed. 
The  uprights  are  made  of  inch  and  a  half  stuff,  or 
even  inch  and  an  eighth.  The*  shelves  are  inch  stuff, 
finished  to  seven-eighths  of  an  inch.  The  backs  are 
half  inch  stuff,  tongued  and  grooved  and  put  in  hori- 
zontally. This  case-unit  ^'xy'xS")  may  be  doubled 
or  trebled,  making  cases  six  and  nine  feet  long;  or  it 
may  be  made  double-faced.  If  double-faced,  and  nine 
feet  long,  it  will  hold  about  a  thousand  books  of  ordinary 
size  when  full.  It  is  often  well  to  build  several  of  your 
cases  short  and  with  a  single  front — wall  cases — as  they 
are  when  in  this  form  more  easily  adjusted  to  the  grow- 
ing needs  of  the  library. 

A  library  can  never  do  its  best  work  until  its  manage- 
ment recognizes  the  duty  and  true  economy  of  provid- 


ROOMS,    BUILDING,    FIXTURES,    FURNITURE  2Q 

ing  skilled  assistants,  comfortable  quarters,  and  the 
best  library  equipment  of  fittings  and  supplies. 

For  cases,  furniture,  catalog  cases,  cards,  trays,  and 
labor-saving  devices  of  all  kinds,  consult  the  catalog 
of  the  Library  Bureau 

Very  many  libraries,  even  the  smallest,  find  it 
advantageous  to  use  for  book  cases  what  are  known 
as  "steel  stacks."  The  demand  for  these  cases  has 
been  so  great  from  libraries,  large  and  small,  that 
shelving  made  from  a  combination  of  wood  and  steel 
has  been  very  successfully  adapted  to  this  use,  and  at 
a  price  within  the  reach  of  all  libraries.  One  of  the 
principal  advantages  in  buying  such  "steel  stack" 
shelving,  with  parts  all  interchangeable,  is  that  in  the 
rearrangement  of  a  room,  or  in  moving  into  a  new 
room  or  a  new  building,  it  can  be  utilized  to  advantage, 
whereas  the  common  wooden  book  cases  very  generally 
cannot. 


3O  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  IX 

Things  needed  in  beginning  work — Books,  periodicals, 
and  tools 

The  books  and  other  things  included  in  the  follow- 
ing list — except  those  starred  or  excepted  in  a  special 
note,  the  purchase  of  which  can  perhaps  be  deferred 
until  the  library  contains  a  few  thousand  volumes — 
are  essential  to  good  work,  and  should  be  purchased, 
some  of  them  as  soon  as  a  library  is  definitely  decided 
upon,  the  others  as  soon  as  books  are  purchased  and 
work  is  actually  begun. 

I.       BOOKS 

*American  catalog  of  books  in  print,  1876-1907,  8v. 
with  annual  supplement.  The  Publishers'  weekly,  N.  Y. 
Several  of  the  volumes  are  out  of  print.  All  are 
expensive.  They  are  not  needed  by  the  small  library. 

A.  L.  A.  catalog;  Sooov.  for  a  popular  library,  with 
notes,  prepared  by  the  N.  Y.  State  Library  and  the 
Library  of  Congress  under  the  auspices  of  the  A.  L.  A. 
Publishing  Board.  U.  S.  Supt.  of  Documents,  Wash- 
ington, 1904,  $i. 

*  Auction  prices  of  books;  ed.  by  L.  S.  Livingstone. 
4V.  Dodd,  Mead,  N.  Y.,  1905,  $20. 

Baker,  E.  A.  History  in  fiction;  a  guide  to  the 
best  historical  romances,  sagas,  novels,  and  tales,  2V. 
Dutton,  X.  Y.,  1907,  $1.50. 

Brown,  J.  D.  Manual  of  library  economy.  Scott, 
London,  1903,  $1.88. 


THINGS    NEEDED    IN     BEGIXMNU    WORK  JI 

Brown,  J.  D.  Manual  of  practical  bibliography. 
Dutton,  N.  Y.,  1906,  75  cts. 

Brown,  J.  D.  Small  library;  a  guide  to  the  collec- 
tion and  care  of  books.  Dutton,  N.  Y.,  1907,  75  cts. 

Card  catalog  rules;  accessions-book  rules;  shelf -list 
rules;  Library  Bureau,  1905,  $1.25.  These  are  called 
the  Library  school  rules. 

Cockerell,  Douglas.  Bookbinding,  and  the  care  of 
books.  Appleton,  N.  Y.,  1902,  $1.25. 

Cutter,  Rules  for  a  dictionary  catalog,  1904.  United 
States  Bureau  of  education,  Washington,  may  be  had 
of  Supt.  of  Documents  for  20  cts. 

Dana,  J.  C.  Bookbinding  for  libraries.  Library 
Bureau,  1910,  $i. 

Dana,  J.  C.  Modern  American  library  economy  as 
illustrated  by  the  Newark,  N.  J.,  Free  Public  Library. 
Elm  Tree  Press,  Woodstock,  Vt.,  1908-1910,  25  to  75 
cts.  per  section.  In  preparation.  Registration  desk, 
25  cts.  Published.  Lending  and  receiving  books,  25 
cts.  Published.  Course  of  study  for  normal  school 
pupils  on  the  use  of  the  library,  75  cts.  Published. 

Davenport,  Cyril.  The  Book ;  its  history  and  develop- 
ment. Constable,  London,  1907,  $1.50. 

Dewey,  Melvil.  Decimal  classification.  Library 
Bureau,  1909,  $5. 

*  *English  catalog,  1835-1908.  Annual  supplement. 
Low,  London,  $1.50.  The  annual  supplements  for 
recent  years  are  needed  by  the  small  library;  the 
others  are  not. 

Fletcher,  W.  I.  Public  libraries  in  America,  1894. 
Little,  Brown,  Boston,  $i. 

League  of  Library  Commissions.  Yearbook,  1906- 
1908.  Alice  E.  Tyler,  Sec.  Des  Moines,  la.,  15  cts. 


32  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Library  Bureau  catalog,  containing  list  of  library 
tools,  fittings,  and  appliances  of  all  kinds,  1909.  To 
be  obtained  of  the  Library  Bureau,  Chicago,  160 
Wabash  Ave. ;  Boston,  43  Federal  St.;  New  York,  316 
Broadway. 

Newark,  N.  J.  Free  Public  Library.  A  Thousand 
of  the  best  novels.  Newark,  1908,  5  cts. 

Plummer,  M.  W.  Hints  to  small  libraries,  1902. 
Library  Bureau,  50  cts. 

Publishers'  trade  list  annual,  1909,  v.  37.  Office  of  the 
Publishers'  weekly,  N.  Y.,  $2.  Catalogs  of  all  important 
American  publishers  bound  together  in  one  volume. 

*Reference  catalog  of  current  literature,  1906,  2V. 
Catalogs  of  English  publishers,  bound  together  and 
indexed.  J.  Whitaker  &  Sons,  London,  $2.50. 

*Sonnenschein,  W.  S.  Best  books,  readers'  guide, 
1891.  Sonnenschein,  London,  $8.  Gives  author,  title, 
publisher  and  price  of  about  50,000  carefully  selected 
and  carefully  classified  books. 

*Sonnenschein,  W.  S.  Reader's  guide  to  contem- 
porary literature  (5o,ooov.),  supplement  to  Best  books, 
1895.  Sonnenschein,  London,  $6.50. 

Spofford,  A.  R.  Book  for  all  readers.  Putnam, 
N.  Y.,  $2. 

Statistics  of  public,  society  and  school  libraries  in 
the  United  States,  1908.  The  United  States  Bureau  of 
Education,  Washington,  free. 

*Subject  headings  for  use  in  dictionary  catalogs, 
Library  Bureau,  1908,  $2.  In  a  small  library  this  is 
not  needed,  but  it  will  save  trouble  to  get  it. 

United  States  catalog,  books  in  print,  1902.  H.  W. 
Wilson  Co.,  Minneapolis,  $15.  Author,  subject  and 
title  in  one  alphabet.  , 


THINGS    NEEDED    IN    BEGINNING    WORK  33 

United  States  catalog,  supplement,  1902-1905.  H.  W. 
Wilson  Co.,  Minneapolis,  $12.50.  Cumulation  of  the 
monthly  Cumulative  book  index. 

World's  library  congress,  papers  prepared  for,  held 
at  World's  Columbian  exposition,  Chicago,  1893.  United 
States  Bureau  of  education,  Washington,  D.  C.,  free. 
Covers  very  fully  the  entire  field  of  library  economy. 


A.   L.   A.   PUBLICATIONS 
Postage  on  book  publication  extra 

A.  L.  A.  Booklist,  a  guide  to  the  best  new  books. 

$i  a  year. 

*A.  L.  A.  Index  to  general  literature,  Fletcher.    $10. 
*A.  L.  A.  Portrait  index.     $3. 
Subject  Headings  for  use  in  dictionary  catalogs.    $2. 
Catalog  Rules.     Author  and  title  entry.     6oc. 
Children's  Books. 

Books  for  boys  and  girls,  Hewins.     i$c. 

Children's  reading.     25C. 
Guide  to  Reference  Books,  Kroeger.     $1.50. 
*Literature  of  American  History,  Lamed.     $6. 
Lists  of  Foreign  Books. 

1  German  books.     5oc. 

2  Hungarian  books.     i5c. 

3  French  books.     25C. 

4  Norwegian  and  Danish  books.     25C. 
Library  Handbooks.     I5C.  each. 

1  Essentials  in  library  administration,  Stearns 

2  Cataloging  for  small  libraries,   H  itchier. 

3  Management  of  traveling  libraries,  Bullock. 

4  Aids  in  book  selection,  Kroeger. 

5  Binding  for  small  libraries. 


34  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Library  Tracts.     50.  each. 

2  How  to  start  a  library,  Wire. 

3  Traveling  libraries,  Hutchins. 

4  Library  rooms  and  buildings,   Soule. 

5  Notes    from   the    art    section   of   a  library, 

Cutter. 

8  A  village  library,  Tarbell. 

9  Training  for  librarianship,   Plummer. 

10  "Why    do  we  need  a  public  library.    Hadley. 

Revised  edition  of  No.  i. 
Library  Architecture. 

Small   library  buildings,  plans.      $1.25   paper; 

$1.50,  cloth. 

Library  buildings,  Eastman,  ice. 
Library  rooms   and  buildings    (Library  tract, 

4)  SC- 
Card  Publications  in  stock. 

Smithsonian  report,   1906,  $1.08;  1907,  $1.16. 
Old  South  leaflets,  volume  1-7.     $2.95. 
Reed's  Modern  eloquence,  15  vol.     $5. 
Photographic    reprints    of    modern    language 

texts  before  1660,  contained  in  American 

college  libraries.     $2.58. 
Congress  of  arts  and  science,  St.  Louis,  8  vol. 

In  preparation. 

THE     LEAGUE     OF    LIBRARY     COMMISSIONS,     PUBLICATIONS 

U.  S.  Government  documents  in  small  libraries;  by  J.  I. 

Wyer,  Jr.     Ed.  2.     May,  1905.     Paper,  12  cts. 
Suggestive  list  of  books  for  a  small  library ;  compiled  by 

Cornelia    Marvin,    Part    i,    Adults.      June,    1905. 

Paper,  15  cts. 
Year-book  of  library  commissions ;  compiled  by  Clara  F. 

Baldwin.     1908.     Paper,   15  cts. 


THIM'.S    NEEDED    IN    BEGINNING    WORK  35 

Reprints:  Report  on  standards  of  library  training,  by 
A.  L.  A.  Committee,  1905.  The  organization  of  a 
library  in  a  small  town,  by  Elizabeth  D.  Renninger, 
1906.  How  shall  a  small  town  make  a  library 
beginning?  by  Alice  S.  Tyler,  1906. 

II.    PERIODICALS 

A.  L.  A.  book  list,  monthly  except  July  and  August, 
$i  .00  a  year.  A.  L.  A.  Publishing  Board.  An  annotated 
list  of  current  books  suitable  for  small  libraries. 

Book  review  digest,  monthly.  H.  W.  Wilson  Co., 
Minneapolis,  $5.  Devoted  to  the  evaluation  of  current 
literature. 

Bulletin  of  the  American  Library  Association. 
Issued  January,  March,  May,  July,  September,  Novem- 
ber. Free  to  members  of  the  association. 

Cumulative  book  index,  monthly.  H.  W.  Wilson  Co., 
Minneapolis,  $6.  A  record  of  books  of  the  year.  Each 
monthly  number  from  February  to  August  includes,  in 
one  alphabet,  books  of  the  year  to  date  of  issue.  Each 
number  from  September  to  December  includes  all  books 
of  the  fall  season  and  the  January  number  records,  in 
one  alphabet,  books  of  the  previous  year.  Books  are 
recorded  under  author,  title  and  subject  entries  and 
the  author  entry  is  a  complete  transcript  of  the  title 
page  of  the  book  indexed. 

Dial,  semi-monthly,  203  Michigan  Blvd.,  Chicago, 
$2.  (Book  reviews,  notes  and  essays.) 

Eclectic  Library  Catalog,  quarterly,  $4  a  year. 
Published  by  the  H.  W.  Wilson  Co.,  Minneapolis. 
Indexes  twenty  magazines  by  author  and  subject,  and 
the  recent  government  publications  most  useful  to  the 
small  library.  Published  quarterly,  price  $4. 


36  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Library  association  record,  monthly,  $6  a  year,  24 
Whitcomb  St.,  London,  W.  C.  This  is  the  official  organ 
of  Library  Association  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

Library  journal,  monthly,  $4  a  year,  298  Broadway, 
New  York. 

Library  work,  quarterly,  50  cts.  a  year.  H.  W. 
Wilson  Co.,  Minneapolis. 

Nation,  weekly.  20  Vesey  St.,  New  York,  $3. 
(Book  reviews,  art,  politics.) 

New  York  Times  Saturday  review  of  books  and  art. 
The  Times,  N.  Y.,  $i. 

Public  libraries,  monthly,  $2  a  year,  156  Wabash 
Ave.,  Chicago.  Presents  library  methods  in  a  manner 
especially  helpful  to  small  libraries. 

Publishers'  weekly,  the  American  book  trade  journal, 
298  Broadway,  N.  Y.,  $5.  (Lists  nearly  all  American 
and  best  English  books  as  published.) 

III.    OTHER    THINGS 

Accession  book.  See  catalog  of  the  Library  Bureau. 
For  a  very  small  library  a  common  blank-book  will  do. 

Agreement  blanks,  which  the  borrower  signs  before 
getting  his  borrower's  card  giving  him  the  right  to 
use  the  library.  See  chapter  on  charging  systems. 

Book  cards.  See  chapter  on  charging  systems,  and 
Library  Bureau  catalog. 

Book  pockets.  See  Library  Bureau  catalog,  and 
also  chapter  on  charging  systems. 

Borrowers'  cards.  Given  to  borrowers  as  evidence 
of  their  right  to  draw  books.  See  chapter  on  charging 
systems. 

Borrowers'  register,  best  kept  in  a  book.  See  chapter 
on  charging  systems. 


THINGS    NEEDED    IN    BEGINNING    WORK  37 

Catalog  cards.  These  are  of  two  sizes  and  many 
thicknesses.  Select  what  suits  you.  See  Library  Bureau 
catalog. 

Catalog  case.  See  Library  Bureau  catalog.  For  a 
very  small  library  a  few  japanned  tin  trays  will  serve. 
But  your  catalog  will  grow  faster  than  you  sup- 
pose. 

Classification  scheme.  See  chapters  on  classifi- 
cation. 

Cole  size  card;  a  sheet  marked  in  such  a  way  as  to 
give  one  at  a  glance  the  proper  letter  to  use  in 
indicating  the  size  of  any  book  placed  on  it.  See 
Library  Bureau  catalog.  In  a  very  small  library  not 
needed. 

Cutter  author  table  for  book  numbers.  See  chapter 
on  book  numbers.  For  a  very  small  library  one  can 
use  numbers  only. 

Daters  and  ink  pads  for  dating  borrowers'  cards, 
etc.  The  pencil  daters  are  best.  See  chapter  on  charg- 
ing systems. 

Ink.  For  all  outside  labels  use  Higgins*  American 
drawing  ink,  waterproof.  For  book  cards,  borrowers' 
cards,  etc.,  use  any  good  black,  non-copying  ink. 
Carter's  fluid  is  very  good. 

Labels.  Round  ones  are  best  and  those  ready 
gummed  do  well  if  carefully  put  on.  Dennison's  "  88A" 
are  good. 

Library  of  Congress,  printed  cards.  See  Handbook 
of  card  distribution,  Librarian  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton, free. 

Paste.  Binder's  paste  is  good;  for  library  use  it 
needs  thinning.  Photo  mounter  and  other  bottled 
pastes  are  also  good. 


38  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Rubber  stamps  and  ink  pad  for  marking  books 
with  name  of  library.  See  chapter  on  preparing  books 
for  the  shelves. 

Shelf  list  cards,  or  sheets.  See  Library  Bureau 
catalog.  In  a  very  small  library  sheets  of  ordinary 
ruled  writing  paper  will  serve.  It  is  better,  however, 
to  get  the  right  thing  at  the  start. 


RELATION    OF    LIBRARY    BUREAU    TO    LIBRARIES        39 


CHAPTER  X 
The  relation  of  the  Library  Bureau  to  libraries 

Geo.  B.  Melcney.  in  Public  Libraries,  May.  1896 

The  consideration  of  the  relations  of  the  Library 
Bureau  to  libraries  brings  us  back  to  the  organization 
of  the  American  Library  Association  in  1876.  At  this 
gathering  of  the  prominent  librarians  of  the  country, 
the  discussion  of  methods  brought  out  the  lack  of 
unanimity  in,  and  the  need  of  cooperation  for,  a  uni- 
form system  in  the  various  branches  of  library  work. 
To  carry  out  uniform  methods  requires  uniform  material, 
and  this  was  hard  to  obtain.  The  American  Library 
Association  as  such,  of  course,  could  not  take  up  a 
business  venture  of  this  kind,  but  it  was  decided  to 
advise  an  organization  for  keeping  on  sale  such  sup- 
plies and  library  aids  as  the  association  might  decide 
were  needed. 

The  Library  Bureau  was  then  organized  for  this 
purpose,  and  has  continued  to  keep  the  same  relation 
toward  the  library  association  as  was  originally  intended. 
Referring  to  the  numbers  of  the  Library  Bureau  cata- 
logs, one  may  trace  the  history  of  the  development 
not  only  of  the  appliances  furnished  by  the  Library 
Bureau,  but  also  of  ideas  of  library  economy  as  they 
are  gathered  there  from  every  source.  It  confined  its 
attention  at  first  to  libraries  only,  the  business  being 
divided  into  four  departments:  employment,  to  bring 
together  libraries  and  librarians;  consultation,  to  give 
expert  advice  on  any  phase  of  any  library  question; 
publication,  to  publish  the  various  needed  helps  (from 


40  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

point  of  usefulness  to  libraries  rather  than  profit  to 
publishers);  supply,  to  furnish  at  lower  prices  all 
articles  recommended  by  the  A.  L.  A.,  and  to  equip 
any  library  with  best  known  devices  in  everything 
needful.  Among  the  things  noticed  in  these  depart- 
ments are  catalog  cards,  cases,  trays,  and  outfits,  book 
supports,  blanks,  book  pockets,  boxes,  desks,  inks,  etc. 
Some  specialties  are  noted  in  library  devices,  and  help- 
ful advice  as  to  their  economical  use  is  given.  The 
successive  catalogs  follow  the  same  line,  attention 
being  directed  toward  all  improvements  in  old  material, 
and  to  all  advanced  work  in  library  administration 
wherever  found.  Not  all  the  material  recommended 
was  manufactured  by  the  Library  Bureau,  but  a  gen- 
erous spirit  is  shown  in  recommending  any  device,  plan, 
or  publication  known  to  be  helpful  to  the  library  pro- 
fession. It  has  brought  to  notice  many  notable  contri- 
butions to  library  literature,  such  as  the  Author  table, 
by  C.  A.  Cutter,  of  the  Boston  athenaeum;  Decimal 
classification  and  relative  index  and  Library  notes,  by 
Melvil  Dewey;  Library  journal;  Library  school  rules; 
Perkins'  manual;  Linderfelt's  rules;  Sargent's  Reading 
for  the  young;  Lists  of  books  for  different  clubs;  Sub- 
ject headings  of  A.  L.  A.,  etc.  The  Library  Bureau 
catalog  itself  is  one  of  the  best  library  aids  ever  pub- 
lished. These  catalogs  have  always  been  sent  free  to 
library  workers. 

Libraries  grew  in  numbers  and  size  largely  because 
of  the  enthusiasm  of  earnest  workers,  but  very  fre- 
quently with  hardly  enough  financial  assistance  to 
warrant  more  than  the  purchase  of  a  few  books,  and 
frequently  with  limited  knowledge  of  how  to  make  the 
small  store  of  use  to  the  waiting  public.  The  manage- 


RELATION    OF    LIBRARY    BUREAU    TO    LIBRARIES        41 

ment  of  the  Library  Bureau  at  this  time  was  certainly 
doing  a  missionary  work;  but  its  chief  problem  was 
the  financial  one,  or  how  to  make  both  ends  meet,  and 
it  was  not  "until  library  methods  were  introduced  into 
business  houses  that  this  question  was  solved.  The 
constant  and  untiring  efforts  of  the  management  of 
the  Library  Bureau  toward  the  assistance  and  upbuild- 
ing of  the  smaller  and  younger  libraries  have  had  much 
to  do  with  the  growth  of  library  sentiment,  which  is 
now  so  apparent  on  every  hand,  and  indirectly  this 
knowledge  of  library  work  and  library  methods  has 
done  much  to  enlarge  the  facilities  of  the  Library 
Bureau. 

From  a  very  unpretentious  concern,  publishing  a 
few  library  aids,  manufacturing  such  library  devices 
as  could  not  be  obtained  elsewhere,  and  keeping  for 
sale  a  few  articles  of  library  furnishing,  the  Library 
Bureau  has  grown  to  be  a  corporation  of  no  small 
proportions,  having  numerous  branches  both  in  this 
country  and  Europe,  maintaining  a  card  factory,  cabi- 
net works  in  Boston  and  Chicago,  and  facilities  for  the 
manufacture  of  steel  stacks  unexcelled  in  this  country. 

The  Library  Bureau,  however,  has  never  forgotten 
the  cause  of  its  birth  or  the  teachings  of  its  youth,  as 
is  clearly  evidenced  from  year  to  year  by  the  various 
undertakings  and  publications  which  a  careful  observer 
can  clearly  see  are  not  put  forward  with  any  presage 
of  success  when  viewed  entirely  from  a  business  stand- 
point. This  lesson  is  constantly  taught  to  the  employes 
of  the  Library  Bureau,  and  they  are  positively  instructed 
that,  regardless  of  the  promise  of  success  in  other 
directions,  the  attention  to  library  requirements  is  the 
first  demand. 


42  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

The  Library  Bureau  maintains  at  its  various  offices 
persons  thoroughly  versed  in  library  economy,  for  the 
express  purpose  of  furnishing  detailed  information  and 
aid  to  those  younger  members  of  the  profession  whom 
they  have  the  pleasure  and  opportunity  of  assisting 
over  the  stumbling-blocks  in  their  daily  work.  With 
this  same  idea  in  view  it  publishes  from  the  Chicago 
office  a  monthly  magazine  called  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES, 
of  an  elementary  character,  which  is  entertaining, 
instructive,  and  inspiring,  and  helps  to  encourage  a 
sentiment  favorable  to  public  libraries  and  to  make 
librarianship  a  profession  of  high  standing. 


SELECTING    BOOKS  43 


CHAPTER  XI 

Selecting  books— Fitting  the  library  to  its  owners 

The  selection  of  books  should  be  left  to  the  librarian, 
under  the  general  direction  of  trustees  or  book  com- 
mittee. 

There  should  be  made  at  the  start  a  collection  of 
encyclopedias,  dictionaries,  gazetteers,  and  scientific 
compendiums,  which  should  not  be  lent.  The  extent 
of  this  collection  will  depend  on  the  scope  and  pur- 
poses of  the  library.  No  library,  however  small,  can 
dispense  with  some  books  of  reference.  But  for  a  small 
library  don't  buy  expensive  works.  The  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica  is  an  example  of  what  not  to  get. 

There  must  be  taken  into  consideration,  in  deter- 
mining the  character  of  the  books  to  be  purchased, 
these  factors  among  others: 

a)  Presence   or   absence   of   other   libraries   in   the 
vicinity,  and  their  character,  if  present. 

b)  The  avowed  purposes  of  the  free,  tax-supported 
public  library,  to- wit:    i)  To  help  people  to  be  happy; 
2)  to  help  them  to  become  wise;  3)  to  encourage  them 
to  be  good. 

c)  The  amount  of  money  to  be  expended  and  the 
sum  that  will  probably  be  available  for  each  succeed- 
ing year. 

d)  The  manner  in  which  the  books  are  to  be  used; 
whether  they  are  to  be  lent,  or  are  to  be  used  only 
for  reference,  or  are  to  form  both  a  reference  and  a 
lending  library. 


44  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

e)  The   class   of  people   by   whom   they   are   to   be 
used,   and  if  children,  whether  for  school  work  only, 
or  for  general  reading,  or  for  both. 

f)  The   occupations   and   leading   local   interests   of 
the  community. 

g)  The  character  and  average  degree  of  intelligence 
of  the  community. 

h)  The  habits,  as  to  reading  and  study,  of  those 
who  will  use  the  library. 

The  village  library,  in  its  early  days,  can  well  afford 
to  begin  at  the  level  of  the  community's  average  read- 
ing. At  the  same  time  it  must  always  try  to  go  a 
little  ahead  of  the  demands  of  the  people,  and  develop 
a  taste  and  desire  for  the  very  best  books  it  can  get. 
The  masses  of  the  people  have  very  little  of  literary 
culture.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  public  library  to 
develop  this  by  creating  in  them  the  habit  of  reading. 
As  a  rule  people  read  books  which  are  above  their  own 
intellectual  and  moral  standard,  and  hence  are  benefited 
by  reading.  The  reading  of  books  generally  leads  to 
the  reading  of  better  books. 

Then  do  not  aim  too  high.  Avoid  trash,  but  do 
not  buy  literature  which  will  not  be  read  simply  be- 
cause it  is  standard  or  classic.  Remember  that  the 
public  library  is  a  popular  institution  in  every  sense 
of  the  word;  that  it  has  become  possible  only  by  the 
approval  of  the  majority  of  the  population,  and  that 
the  majority  of  the  population  is  confined  in  its  turn 
to  a  majority  of  people  of  the  most  commonplace  kind. 

Do  not  pander  to  any  sect,  creed,  or  partisan  taste. 
Buy  largely  books  costing  from  50  cents  to  $2,  found 
in  so  many  of  the  series  now  published.  These  are 
fresh,  up-to-date,  written  for  the  most  part  by  com- 


SELECTING    BOOKS  45 

patent  men,  and  are  reliable.  They  are  not  dull,  be- 
cause no  one  can  afford  to  be  dull  in  a  121110  volume. 
As  a  general  thing  they  are  well  made,  supplied  with 
maps  and  illustrations  when  needed,  and  have  indexes. 
Put  much  of  your  money  into  the  history,  travel,  and 
literature  of  your  own  country  first,  and  then  see  what 
you  have  left  for  Greece  and  Rome.  The  common 
people  nowadays  should  be  encouraged  in  their  interest 
in  their  own  country,  its  description,  history,  politics, 
biography,  mineral  resources,  literature.  The  people 
will  inquire  for  these  books,  and  they  should  be  pro- 
vided for  them.  Wait  until  the  library  is  larger  before 
investing  much  money  in  the  history  of  wornout  empires, 
simply  because  such  and  such  a  person  wants  them, 
or  because  some  library  anywhere  from  two  to  twenty 
times  as  large  has  them.  Use  common  sense  and 
much  of  it. 

Put  into  the  people's  hands  books  worthy  of  their 
respect,  then  insist  that  they  be  handled  carefully  and 
treated  always  with  consideration.  Expensive  books; 
that  is,  books  which  are  first-class  in  paper,  ink,  and 
binding,  are  generally  better  worth  their  cost  than 
cheap  ones. 

In  the  first  purchases  buy  largely  for  children.  They 
are  the  library's  best  pupils.  They  are  more  easily 
trained  to  enjoy  good  books  than  their  elders.  Through 
them  the  homes  are  best  reached.  They  will,  by  their 
free  use  of  the  library,  and  by  their  approval  of  it, 
do  much  to  add  to  its  popularity.  The  best  books  for 
children  will  be  enjoyed  by  all. 

In  selecting  fiction,  get  from  the  older  librarians  a 
statement  of  what  are  the  most  popular  of  the  whole- 
some novels  found  on  their  shelves.  A  better  guide 


46  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

than  this  it  will  be  difficult  to  find.  Fiction  is  of  the 
greatest  value  in  developing  a  taste  for  reading.  Every- 
one should  be  familiar  with  the  great  works  of  imagina- 
tion. Nearly  all  the  greatest  literature  of  the  world  is 
fiction.  The  educational  value  of  the  novel  is  not 
often  questioned. 

But  don't  buy  a  novel  simply  because  it  is  popular. 
If  you  follow  that  line  you  will  end  with  the  cheapest 
kind  of  stuff.  Some  librarians  pretend  that  they  must 
buy  to  please  the  public  taste ;  that  they  can't  use  their 
own  judgment  in  selecting  books  for  a  library  which 
the  public  purse  supports.  Why  these  librarians  don't 
supply  the  Police  gazette  it  is  difficult  to  understand. 
"The  public"  would  like  it — some  of  them.  We  select 
school  committees  and  superintendents  and  teachers  to 
run  our  schools.  We  ask  them  to  inform  themselves 
on  the  subject  and  give  us  the  best  education  they 
can.  They  don't  try  to  suit  everybody.  They  try  to 
furnish  the  best.  Library  trustees  and  librarian  are  in 
a  like  case.  The  silly,  the  weak,  the  sloppy,  the  wishy 
washy  novel,  the  sickly  love  story,  the  belated  tract, 
the  crude  hodge-podge  of  stilted  conversation,  impos- 
sible incident,  and  moral  platitude  or  moral  bosh  for 
children — these  are  not  needed.  It  is  as  bad  to  buy 
them  and  circulate  them,  knowingly,  as  it  would  be 
for  our  school  authorities  to  install  in  our  schoolrooms 
as  teachers  romantic,  giggling  girls  and  smarty  boys. 
Buy  good  novels,  those  the  wise  approve  of,  in  good 
type,  paper,  and  binding;  keep  plenty  of  copies  of  each 
on  hand;  put  them  where  your  readers  can  handle 
them;  add  a  few  each  year  of  the  best  only  of  the 
latest  novels,  and  those  chiefly  on  trial  (not  to  be 
bought  again  if  found  not  to  have  real  merit)  and  your 


SELECTING    BOOKS  47 

public  will  be  satisfied,  and  your  library  will  be  all  the 
time  raising  the  taste  of  the  community. 

Some  books  should  not  be  put,  at  least  not  with- 
out comment,  into  the  hands  of  young  people.  Other 
books,  some  people  think,  should  not  be  read  by  young 
people.  Other  books,  some  people  think,  should  not 
be  in  a  public  library  at  all.  A  good  course  to  follow 
in  regard  to  such  books  is  to  consider  the  temper  of 
your  community  and  put  into  the  library  as  many  of 
them  as  are  noteworthy  in  a  literary  way  as  your  public 
and  your  resources  permit. 

In  other  departments  follow  at  first  the  guidance 
of  some  one  of  the  good  book  lists  now  available. 

Other  things  being  equal,  American  scientific  books 
are  preferable  to  those  by  foreign  authors.  In  all 
departments  select  the  latest  editions,  and,  at  first, 
the  recent  book  rather  than  the  older  book. 

The  proportion  of  books  in  the  different  depart- 
ments of  knowledge  must  vary  greatly  in  different 
libraries.  The  following  is  a  good  general  guide: 

Per  cent. 

General  works 04 

Philosophy o  i 

Religion 02 

Sociology 09 

Philology 01 

Science : 08 

Useful  arts 06 

Fine  arts 04 

Literature 12 

Biography i  o 

History 13 

Travels 10 

Fiction 20 

Total. .  100 


48  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Local  interest  should  be  fostered  by  buying  freely 
books  on  local  history  and  science  and  books  by  local 
authors. 

The  librarian  should  keep  informed  of  coming 
events,  and  see  that  the  library  is  provided  with  the 
books  for  which  there  is  sure  to  be  a  future  demand. 
He  should  avoid  personal  hobbies  and  be  impartial  on 
all  controversial  questions.  He  should  not  be  over- 
confident in  his  knowledge  of  what  will  elevate  and 
refine  the  community. 

It  is  better  to  buy  10  extra  copies  of  a  wholesome 
book  wanted  by  the  public  than  one  copy  each  of  10 
other  books  which  will  not  be  read. 

Do  not  waste  time,  energy,  and  money — certainly 
not  in  the  early  days  of  the  library — in  securing  or 
arranging  public  documents,  save  a  few  of  purely  local 
value.  Take  them  if  offered  and  store  them. 

Do  not  be  too  much  impressed  by  the  local  history 
plea,  and  spend  precious  money  on  rare  volumes  or 
old  journals  in  this  line. 

Certain  work  can  judiciously  be  done  toward  collect- 
ing and  preserving  materials  for  local  history  that  will 
involve  neither  expense  nor  much  labor,  and  this  the 
librarian  should  do.  Do  not  turn  the  public  library, 
which  is  chiefly  to  be  considered  as  a  branch  of  a  live, 
everyday  system  of  popular  education,  into  a  local 
antiquarian  society;  but  simply  let  it  serve  incidentally 
as  a  picker-up  of  unconsidered  trifles.  A  wide-awake, 
scholarly  librarian  will  like  his  town,  and  delight  in 
at  least  some  study  of  its  antecedents.  And  such  a 
librarian  need  not  be  a  crank,  but  must  needs  be  an 
enterprising,  wide-awake,  appreciative  student,  who 
can  scent  the  tastes  and  needs  of  posterity. . 


SELECTING    BOOKS  49 

Put  no  money  into  rare  books.  A  book  which  was 
out  of  print  10  years  or  200  years  ago,  and  has  not 
insisted  upon  republication  since,  has,  ordinarily,  no 
place  in  the  active,  free  public  library.  If  you  get  it, 
sell  it  and  buy  a  live  book. 

The  free  public  library  should  encourage  its  readers 
to  suggest  books  not  in  the  library,  by  providing  blanks 
for  that  purpose,  and  paying  courteous  attention  to 
all  requests. 

Ask  by  letter,  by  circulars,  and  by  notes  in  the 
local  papers,  for  gifts  of  books,  money,  and  periodicals. 
Acknowledge  every  gift.  Remember  that  one  who  has 
helped  the  library,  be  it  ever  so  littK*.  has  thereby  be- 
come interested  in  it,  and  is  its  friend. 


5°  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XII 

Reference  books  for  a  small  library 

This  list  includes  about  100  titles,  200  volumes, 
and  would  cost  about  $  1,000.  It  is  subdivided  into 
four  lists,  arranged  according  to  relative  importance. 
This  sub-division  is  shown  by  the  numbers  prefixed  to 
each  entry.  A  selection  from  the  list  of  good  books  to 
cover  all  classes  can  be  made  to  cost  not  more  than 
$400  to  $500.  For  example,  if  a  library  buy  the  abridged 
Poole  at  $17,  it  would  not  need  to  buy  the  full  set  at 
$82.  Many  good  reference  books  can  be  bought  second- 
hand at  much  less  than  the  published  prices.  This  is 
especially  true  of  the  books  offered  by  subscription 
agents. 

2.  Adams,    C.    K.      Manual   of  historical   literature. 
1903.     O.     Harper,  cl.  $2.50. 

i.  Adams,  O.  F.     Dictionary  of  American  authors. 

1905.  O.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  cl.  $3.50. 

i.  Adler,  G.  J.  Dictionary  of  the  German  and 
English  languages.  1893.  Q.  Appleton,  mor.  $5. 

4.  Allibone,  S.  A.  Critical  dictionary  of  English 
literature.  1891,  3V.  Q.  Lippincott,  sh.  $22.50. 

4.  Allibone,  S.  A.  Supplement  to  the  critical  dic- 
tionary of  English  literature,  by  J.  F.  Kirk.  1892,  2V. 
Q.  Lippincott,  sh.  $15. 

3.  A.  L.  A.  portrait  index,  ed.  by  Lane  and  Browne. 

1906.  O.     Liby.  Cong.  cl.  $3. 

3.  Appleton's  cyclopaedia  of  American  biography. 
1888-1900,  7v.  Q.  Appleton,  cl.  $36. 


REFERENCE    BOOKS    FOR    A    SMALL    LIBRARY  51 

i.  Appleton's  cyclopaedia  of  applied  mechanics,  ed. 
by  P.  Benjamin.  1893,  2V.  Q.  Appleton,  sh.  $15, 
half  mor.  $17. 

1.  Appleton's    modern    mechanism,    supplement    to 
Cyclopaedia  of  applied  mechanics.    1892,  iv.    Q.  Apple- 
ton,  sh.  $7.50,  half  mor.  $8.50. 

4.  Bailey,  L.  H.  Cyclopaedia  of  American  agricul- 
ture. 1908  9,  4V.  Q.  Macmillan,  $20. 

4.  Cyclopaedia  of  American  horticulture.  1901-2,  4V. 
Q.  Macmillan,  $20. 

2.  Baker,  E.  A.     Descriptive  guide  to  the  best  fiction, 
British  and  American.      1903.     O.      Macmillan,  $2.50. 

2.  Bartlett,  J.,  ed.     Familiar  quotations.     1900.    O. 
Little,  cl.  $3. 

3.  Bliss,   E.   M.,   ed.     Cyclopaedia  of  missions,    2V. 
1891.     Q.     Funk  &  Wagnalls,  cl.  $12. 

3.  Second  ed.,  really  supp.  vol.  1904.  Q.  Funk 
&  Wagnalls,  cl.  $6. 

i  Bliss,  \V.  D.  P.  &  Binder,  R.  M.  New  encyclo- 
paedia of  social  reform.  1908.  Q.  Funk  &  Wagnalls, 
cl.  $7.50. 

3.  Brannt,  W.  T.  and  Wahl,  W.  H.  Technico- 
chemical  receipt  book.  1895.  D.  Baird,  cl.  $2. 

i.  Brewer,  E.  C.  Reference  library,  1885-98.  4V. 
O.  Lippincott.  $13.  Dictionary  of  miracles,  Historic 
notebook,  Dictionary  of  phrase  and  fable,  Reader's 
handbook. 

1.  Brookings,  W.   D.  and  Ringwalt,   R.   C.     Briefs 
for  debate.     D.     Longmans,  1897,  cl.  $1.25. 

2.  Brown,  E.  and  Strauss,  A.     Dictionary  of  Amer- 
ican politics.     1895.     D.     Burt,  cl.,  $i. 

i.  Bryant,  W.  C.,  ed.  Library  of  poetry  and  song. 
1876.  Q.  Fords,  Howard,  cl.,  $5. 


52  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

f 

3.  Century  dictionary  and  cyclopaedia.  (Century 
dictionary  and  the  Century  cyclopaedia  of  names  com- 
bined with  the  atlas  of  the  world.)  iov.  Prices  from 
$60  to  $150.  Often  can  be  picked  up  second-hand. 

i.  Century  atlas  of  the  world.  1897.  F.  Century 
Co.,  cl.  $12.50,  half  mor.  $15. 

1.  Century  cyclopaedia  of  names,  n.  d.     F.     Century 
Co.,  cl.  $10.50,  buf.  $12.50. 

(Note. — The  two  last  are  included  in  the  Century  dictionary 
and  cyclopedia,  but  can  be  bought  separately.) 

2.  Chambers,  R.,  ed.     Book  of  days,   2V.     O.   Lip- 
pincott.     1893.     $7. 

2.  Champlin,  J.  D.,  jr.  Young  folks'  cyclopaedia  of 
common  things.  1896.  O.  Holt,  cl.  $2.50. 

2.  Champlin,  J.  D.,  jr.  Young  folks'  cyclopaedia  of 
persons  and  places.  1895.  O.  Holt,  cl.  $2.50. 

2.  Champlin,  J.  D.,  jr.  and  Bostwick,  A.  E.  Young 
folks'  cyclopaedia  of  games  and  sports.  1890.  O.  Holt, 
cl.  $2.50. 

2.  Channing,    E.    and    Hart,    A.    B.      Guide   to   the 
study  of  American  history.     O.     Ginn.     1896.     $2. 

3.  Christy,  R.     Proverbs,  maxims  and  phrases  of  all 
ages,  2v.     1905.     D.     cl.  $3.50. 

i.  Clement,  C.  E.  Painters,  architects,  engravers, 
and  their  work.  1881.  D.  Houghton,  Mimin,  cl.  $3. 
(Artists  not  living.) 

i.  Clement,  C.  E.  and  Hutton,  L.  Artists  of  the 
1 9th  century  and  their  work.  1885.  D.  Houghton 
&  Mifflin,  cl.  $3. 

4.  Cram's  standard  American  railway  system    atlas 
of  the  world.     1908.     F.     Cram.  $17.50. 

4.  Fletcher,  W.  I.,  ed.  A.  L.  A.  index  to  general 
literature.  1901.  Q.  A.  L.  A.  Pub.  Bd.  $10. 


REFERENCE    BOOKS    FOR    A    SMALL    LIBRARY  53 

i.  Fletcher,  W.  I.,  ed.  Annual  library  index,  includ- 
ing periodicals  and  essays.  Annual.  O.  Publishers' 
weekly,  cl.  $3.50. 

3.  Frey,  A.  R.     Sobriquets  and  nicknames.     1889. 
O.     Houghton,  cl.  $3. 

4.  Goodchild,  G.  F.  and  Tweney,  C.  F.    Technolog- 
ical and  scientific  dictionary.     1906.     Q.     Lippincott, 
cl.  $6. 

i.  Goodholme,  T.  S.  Domestic  encyclopaedia  of 
practical  information.  1889.  O.  Scribners,  cl.  $5. 

i.  Granger,  E.  Index  to  poetry  and  recitations. 
1904.  Q.  McClurg,  half  leather,  $5. 

4.  Groves,  Sir  G.  Dictionary  of  music  and  musi- 
cians, 4V.  1904-08.  O.  Macmillan,  $20. 

1.  Harper's  book  of  facts.     C.  T.  Lewis,  ed.     1895. 
Q.     Harper.     Sub.  only,  $8. 

3.  Harper's  cyclopaedia  of  British  and  American 
poetry.  E.  Sargent,  ed.  1881.  Q.  Harper,  half 
leather,  $5. 

2.  Harper's    dictionary    of   classical    literature    and 
antiquities.    H.  T.   Peck,   ed.    1897.     Q.     Harper,   cl. 
$6. 

3.  Harper's  encyclopaedia  of  United  States  history. 
1902,  iov.     O.     Harper,  $31. 

4.  Hastings,  J.     Dictionary  of  the  Bible,    $v.     O. 
1898-1904.     Scribner,  cl.  $30. 

2.  Hazell's  annual;  record  of  men  and  topics  of  the 
day.  Annual.  D.  Hazell,  35.  6d. 

2.  Hiscox,  G.  D.  Henley's  twentieth  century  book 
of  recipes,  etc.  1907.  Q.  cl.  $3. 

2.  Hopkins,  A.  A.  Scientific  American  cyclopaedia 
of  receipts,  notes,  and  queries.  1903.  O.  cl.  $5,  sh.  $6. 

i.  Hoyt,  J.  K.     Cyclopaedia  of  practical  quotations, 


54  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

English,  Latin,  and  modern  foreign.     1896.     Q.     Funk 
&  Wagnalls,  cl.  $5,  sh.  $8. 

3.  Larned,  J.  N.,  ed.     History  for  ready  reference, 
from  the  best  historians,  biographers,  and  specialists. 
1894.     6v.  Maps.     Nichols  Co.,  Springfield,  Mass.     cl. 
$5  each,  half  mor.  $6  each. 

2.  Lalor,  J.  J.,  ed.     Cyclopaedia  of  political  science, 
political  economy,  and  political  history  of  the  United 
States.     1890-93.     3V.     Q.     C.  E.  Merrill,  $15. 

i.  Leypoldt,  A.  H.  and  lies,  G.  List  of  books  for 
girls  and  women.  Dewey  classification  numbers  with 
each  entry.  1895.  Library  Bureau,  cl.  $i. 

i.  Lippincott's  new  gazetteer.  1906.  Q.  Lippin- 
cott,  sh.  $10. 

4.  Lippincott's  universal  pronouncing  dictionary  of 
biography  and  mythology,  by  J.  Thomas.      1901.     Q. 
Lippincott,  in  2V.  cl.  $15. 

i.  Little,  C.  E.  Cyclopaedia  of  classified  dates.  1900. 
Q.  Funk,  cl.  $10. 

3.  Lubke,  W.     Outlines  of  the  history  of  art.     1891. 
2V.     O.     Dodd,  Mead,  half  roan,  $7.50. 

1.  Matson,     H.       References    for    literary    workers. 
1893.     O.     McClurg,  $2.50. 

4.  Mineral  industry,   its   statistics,   technology,   and 
trade,  ed.  by  R.  R.  Rothwell,  annual.     O.     Scientific 
Pub.  Co.,  cl.  $5. 

2.  Moulton,  C.  W.     Library  of  literary  criticism,   8v. 
1901-05.     O.     Moulton,  $40. 

2.  Nature  library,  isv.  Q.  Doubleday,  cl.  $3  a 
vol. 

i.  New  international  encyclopaedia,  ed.  by  D.  C. 
Oilman,  et  al.  1907.  Q.  2ov.  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co., 
$5  a  vol.  Second-hand  sets,  $5o-$75. 


REFERENCE    BOOKS    FOR    A    SMALL    LIBRARY  55 

i.  New  international  year  book.  Annual.  Q. 
Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  cl. 

i.  Patrick,  D.  and  Gromme,  F.  H.,  eds.     Chambers 
biographical  dictionary.     1902.     O.     Lippincott,  cl.  $2. 
4.  Poole,  W.  F.  and  Fletcher,  W.  I.  Poole's  index 
to  periodical  literature.    O.    Houghton,  Mifflin. 
V.  i.  in  two  parts,  cl.  $16,  sh.  $24. 
V.  2.  Jan.  1882-  Jan.  1887.     cl.  $8,  sh.  $10. 
V.  3.  Jan.  1887-  Jan.  1892.     cl.  $8,  sh.  $12. 
V.  4.  Jan.  1892-  Jan.  1897.     cl.  $10,  sh.  $12. 
V.  5.  Jan.  1897-  Jan.  1902.     cl.  sh. 
V.  6.  Jan.  1902-  Jan.  1907.     cl.  sh. 
i.  Poole's  Index  to  periodical  literature.    Abridged. 
1901.     Q.     Houghton,   Mifflin,   cl.   $12.     Supplement, 
1900-4.     Q.     Houghton,   Mifflin,  cl.   $5.     In  a  small 
library  this  abridgment  is  sufficient. 

i.  Rand-McNally  indexed  atlas  of  the  world.  1908. 
2V.  58x41  cm.  Rand-McNally.  cl.  half  leather. 

4.  Reader's  guide  to  periodical  literature.  V.  i .  1 900- 
04.  Q.  Wilson.  $16.  Monthly  and  annual  supple- 
ments. O.  $12  per  year. 

1.  Ringwalt,  R.  C.    Briefs  on  public  questions.    1905. 
D.     Longmans,  cl  $1.20. 

2.  Smith,  H.  P.  and  Johnson,  H.  K.     Dictionary  of 
terms,  phrases,  and  quotations.     1895.     O.     Appleton, 
half  leather,  $3. 

3.  Smith,  W.    Classical  dictionary.     New  edition  by 
Marindm.     1894.     O.     Appleton,  $6. 

i.  Smith,  W.  Dictionary  of  the  Bible.  1884.  O. 
Coates,  cl.  $2,  half  mor.  $3. 

3.  Smith,  W.  and  Cheetham,  S.  Dictionary  of 
Christian  antiquities.  1891.  2V.  O.  Burr,  Hartford, 
Conn.,  cl.  $7,  leather  $8. 


56  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

i.  Soule,  R.  Dictionary  of  English  synonyms.  1895. 
O.  Lippincott,  cl.  $2.25,  mor.  $2.75. 

i.  Spiers,  A.  and  Surenne,  O.  French  and  English 
pronouncing  dictionary.  1891.  Q.  Appleton,  half 
mor.  $5. 

1.  Standard    dictionary    of    the    English    language, 
2V.     Q.     Funk  &  Wagnalls,  half  rus.  $18. 

3.  Statesmen's    year    book,    annual.      D.      Macmil- 
lan,  $3. 

4.  Sturgis,  R.     Dictionary  of  architecture  and  build- 
ing.    3V.     1901.     Q.     Macmillan,  $18. 

2.  Walsh,  W.  S.     Handy  book  of  literary  curiosities. 
1893.     O.     Lippincott,  half  leather,  $3.50. 

2.  Walsh,  W.  S.  Curiosities  of  popular  customs, 
and  of  rites,  ceremonies,  observances  and  miscel- 
laneous antiquities.  1898.  O.  Lippincott,  half  leather, 

$3-5°- 

1.  Webster,   N.      International   dictionary.      Spring- 
field, Mass.     Merriam.     1910.     $12. 

2.  Wheeler,  W.  A.     Familiar  allusions.      1891.     D. 
Houghton,  cl.  $2. 

2.  Wheeler,  W.  A.     Explanatory  and  pronouncing 
dictionary  of  noted  names  of  fiction.    1892.    D.    Hough- 
ton,  cl.  $2. 

3.  Wheeler,  W.  A.  and  C.  G.     Who  wrote  it?     D. 
Lee  &  Shepard,  cl.  $2. 

2.  Whitaker's    almanac.      Annual.      D.      Whitaker, 
paper,  2S.  6d. 

3.  Who's  who?  annual;  autobiographies  of  the  lead- 
ing men  and  women  of  the  day;  complete  peerage,  etc. 
Annual.     D.     Black,  cl.  35.  6d. 

i.  Who's  who  in  America,  vol.  5.  1909.  D.  Mar- 
quis, $4. 


REFERENCE    BOOKS    FOR    A    SMALL    LIBRARY  57 

i.  Willetts,  G.    Workers  of  the  nation,  2V.     1903.    Q. 
Dodd,  Mead,  $4. 

1.  World  almanac  and  encyclopaedia.     Annual.     D. 
New  York  World,  pa.  25  cents. 

2.  Young,  R.    Analytical  concordance  to  the  Bible, 
n.   d.     Ed.     6.     Q.     Religious  tract  society,  cl.   245., 
mor.  305. 


58  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Reference  work— Helping  the  inexperienced  inquirer- 
Periodicals 

Reference  work  in  libraries  large  and  small  has  for 
its  first  rule:  Meet  the  inquirer  more  than  half  way. 
To  the  stranger  a  library  is  often  an  oppressive  place, 
an  awesome  place — in  his  imagination.  He  comes  in 
shyly;  everyone  appears  busy,  his  question  suddenly 
seems  to  him  trivial;  he  won't  trouble  these  wise  and 
busy  people  with  it — and  goes  out. 

A  good  second  rule  is:  Learn  at  once  just  exactly 
what  the  inquirer  wishes  to  know.  This  is  not  always 
easy.  Tact  and  a  little  patience  will  generally  effect  it. 

A  good  third  rule  is:  Whenever  possible  show  the 
enquirer  how  the  answer  is  found,  so  that  he  may  next 
time  in  some  measure  help  himself.  It  is  surprising 
how  many,  especially  of  the  younger  people  in  a  com- 
munity, can  be  taught  within  one  year,  on  their  occa- 
sional visits,  to  make  the  proper  use  of  at  least  a  few 
reference  books. 

Another  rule  of  very  general  application  is:  Go 
first  to  a  dictionary.  In  many  cases  a  question  answers 
itself,  or  betrays  where  its  answer  may  best  be  found, 
if  it  is  once  plainly  stated.  And  nothing  is  better  than 
reference  to  a  few  words  in  a  dictionary  for  the  clear 
statement  of  a  question.  The  larger  dictionaries,  more- 
over, and  notably  the  Century,  will  answer  many  more 
inquiries  than  even  great  readers  often  suppose. 

Many  questions  come  up  again  and  again.    Of  these, 


REFERENCE    WORK  59 

and  of  the  references  which  answered  them,  notes 
should  be  kept  on  cards  for  future  use.  In  fact  it  is 
well  to  keep  an  index  in  this  way  of  the  references 
looked  up  for  all  the  more  important  inquiries. 

The  following  excellent  advice  is  from  an  article  on 
The  use  of  periodicals  in  reference  work,  by  Frederick 
Winthrop  Faxon,  in  Public  Libraries  for  June,  1898: 

"In  all  reference  work  periodicals  play  a  large  part. 
They  may  be  roughly  divided  into  two  great  classes, 
the  technical  and  the  popular.  The  former  are  indis- 
pensable to  the  scholar,  or  the  expert,  and  in  the  rapid 
advancement  of  science  are  the  only  real  sources  of 
information.  Text-books  or  treatises  are  out  of  date 
before  published;  therefore  for  a  correct  present  view, 
or  a  complete  history  of  the  development  of  any  science, 
the  technical  reviews  and  society  transactions  must  be 
consulted.  These  will  be  the  principal  part  of  a  scien- 
tific library,  and  should  be  in*  the  large  public  and 
college  libraries  in  order  to  cover  advanced  study. 
They  have,  on  the  other  hand,  little  place  in  small 
libraries — they  would  seldom  be  of  use,  and  are  very 
expensive. 

"But  the  popular  periodicals  every  library  needs. 
In  the  better  class  of  these  reviews  it  is  possible,  if  we 
know  where  to  look,  to  find  several  articles  on  both 
sides  of  almost  any  subject.  Furthermore,  these  are 
often  written  by  the  foremost  authors  or  scientists, 
and  are  in  a  language  intelligible  to  all.  The  amateur 
cannot  give  the  time  or  patience  to  wade  two-volume 
deep  in  the  subject  his  club  wishes  him  to  treat  in  half 
an  hour's  speech.  The  magazine  gives  just  what  he 
wants  in  several  pages.  There  are  periodicals  exclu- 
sively devoted  to  every  branch  of  every  science,  and 


60  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

magazines  which,  in  their  files,  include  articles  on  all 
subjects.  This  mine  of  information  has  been  opened 
up  by  Pgole's  index.  Since  1881,  when  the  third  and 
enlarged  edition  of  Poole's  index  was  published,  all 
this  is  common  property  for  the  asking.  Grouped 
around  Poole  and  keeping  pace  with  the  times  are  the 
Poole  supplements,  which  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  named 
the  Fletchers,  covering  the  five-year  periods  since  1881, 
ending  respectively  1886,  1891,  1896,  1901,  1906.  Then 
the  Annual  index  gives  a  yearly  index  of  subjects  and 
authors,  and  serves  as  a  supplement  to  the  Poole  sup- 
pi  ament. 

"The  abridged  Poole,  1901,  and  supplement,  1904, 
index  fully  a  selected  list  of  sets  of  periodicals. 

"For  such  as  cannot  be  even  a  year  without  a  period- 
ical index  we  now  have  the  admirable  Reader's  guide, 
monthly,  published  by  the  H.  W.  Wilson  Company, 
Minneapolis.  Thus  all  the  principal  periodicals  since 
the  beginning  of  the  century  may  be  consulted  by 
reference  to  a  few  single  books  or  alphabets. 

"  Sargent's  Reading  for  the  young,  and  its  supple- 
ment, index  the  juvenile  sets  of  St.  Nicholas,  Harper's 
young  people,  and  Wide  Awake.  Poole  and  the  Reader's 
guide  are  of  little  use  without  a  fair  assortment  of 
the  sets  therein  indexed. 

"  It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  a  large 
number  of  bound  periodicals  must  be  purchased  before 
buying  any  index.  Given  the  abridged  Poole  and  a 
complete  set  of  Littell's  living  age,  and  Harper's 
monthly,  and  more  reference  work  can  be  done  than 
with  twice  the  number  of  reference  books  not  period- 
icals. A  small  collection  of  sets  has  enabled  more  than 
one  struggling  library  to  hold  its  own  with  the  students 


REFERENCE    WORK  6l 

and  club  members,  and  to  accomplish  work  which  could 
not  have  been  done  as  well  with  many  works  of  refer- 
ence, the  purchase  of  which  would  have  exhausted 
tlie  whole  book  fund." 


62  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Reading  room— Periodicals 

A  free  reading  room  is  generally  opened  in  connec- 
tion with  the  library,  and  often  proves  its  most 
attractive  feature.  It  should  be  comfortably  furnished 
and  scrupulously  clean.  As  the  room  is  for  the  use  of  all 
clean  and  orderly  people,  quiet  should  be  maintained 
to  give  all  a  chance  to  read  and  study  without  inter- 
ruption. There  should  be  no  signs  commanding  things, 
and  the  fewest  possible — and  they  unobtrusive — request- 
ing things.  Signs  giving  information  helpful  to  readers 
are  always  permissible;  but  see  that  they  harmonize 
with  the  furnishings  of  the  room  and  are  clean.  Gray, 
or  some  modest  tint,  is  preferable  to  white  cardboard 
for  all  signs.  The  general  atmosphere  of  the  place 
should  be  such  as  one  would  wish  to  have  in  his  own 
home — orderly,  inviting,  cheerful. 

The  village  library  ought  to  preserve  for  reference 
a  file  of  local  papers;  and  it  seems  proper  for  it  to  pro- 
vide for  public  use  a  few  dailies  or  weeklies  from  the 
nearest  cities.  Further  than  this  in  this  direction  it 
would  not  seem  expedient  to  go,  because  better  work 
can  be  done,  with  the  money  newspapers  would  cost, 
in  other  directions.  In  fact,  where  the  room  is  limited, 
as  well  as  funds,  it  will  often  be  better  to  provide  no 
newspapers  at  all.  Few  are  unable  to  get  papers  to 
read  elsewhere.  Trie  library  can  well  devote  itself  to 
the  encouraging  the  reading  of  other  things.  Most 
people  read  the  newspapers  enough,  library  or  no  library. 


READING    ROOM— PERIODICALS  63 

Many,  save  for  the  library,  would  not  read  the  standard 
American  and  English  periodicals. 

The  young  people  are  the  library's  most  hopeful 
material.  To  them  the  librarian  hopes  to  give,  through 
books  and  journals,  an  added  pleasure;  and  in  them  he 
hopes  to  awaken  a  taste  for  reading  something — in 
time  something  good.  To  attract  the  children  it  will 
be  wise  to  have  on  file  a  few  juvenile  journals  and 
picture  papers  and  illustrated  magazines.  As  to  the 
standard  and  popular  monthlies  and  quarterlies  there 
seems  to  be  no  question;  they  should  be  taken  freely. 


Magazine  binder.     (Reduced;  various  sizes.) 

The  magazines  furnish  us  with  the  best  fiction,  the 
best  poetry,  the  best  essays,  the  best  discussions  of  all 
subjects,  old  and  new,  and  the  latest  science.  It  is  a 
question  if  many  a  village  library  would  not  do  more, 
vastly  more,  to  stimulate  the  mental  life  of  its  com- 
munity, and  to  broaden  its  views  and  sympathies,  and 
to  encourage  study,  if  it  diverted  a  far  larger  part  of 
its  income  than  it  now  does  from  inferior  books,  and 
especially  inferior  novels,  to  weekly  journals  and  popular 
and  standard  magazines.  It  is  not  yet  fully  impressed 
upon  us  that  the  thing  the  community  needs  is  not  a 


64  A    LIPRARY    PRIMER 

"library" — it  ma}  have  a  street  lined  with  "libraries'" 
and  still  dwell  in  the  outer  darkness — but  contact  with 
the  printed  page.  Get  this  contact  first,  then,  by 
means  of  attractive  rooms,  and  clean,  wholesome,  inter- 
esting periodicals  and  books,  and  let  the  well-rounded 
students'  collection  of  books  come  on  as  it  will. 

From  5  to  20  per  cent  can  very  often  be  saved  on 
the  cost  of  periodicals  by  ordering  them  through  a 
reliable  subscription  agency. 

The  custom  is  extending  of  taking  extra  numbers 
of  the  popular  magazines  and  lending  them  as  if  they 
were  books,  though  generally  for  a  shorter  period  and 
without  the  privilege  of  renewal.  When  this  is  done, 
put  each  magazine  in  a  binder  made  for  the  purpose, 
and  marked  with  the  library's  name,  to  keep  it  clean 
and  smooth,  and  to  identify  it  as  library  property. 
Similar  binders  are  often  put  on  the  magazines  which 
are  placed  in  the  reading  rooms.  (See  Library  Bureau 
catalog.) 

Complete  volumes  of  the  magazines  are  in  great 
demand  with  the  borrowing  public.  The  magazine 
indexes  now  available  will  make  useful  to  the  student 
the  smallest  library's  supply  of  periodical  literature. 

In  small  reading  rooms  the  periodicals  that  are  sup- 
plied should  be  placed  on  tables  where  readers  can 
consult  them  without  application  to  the  attendants. 
Files  and  racks  for  newspapers,  special  devices  for 
holding  illustrated  journals,  and  other  things  of  like 
nature,  are  to  be  found  in  great  variety. 

Post  up  in  the  reading  room  a  list  of  the  periodicals 
regularly  received;  also  a  list  of  those  in  the  bound  files. 

A  careful  record  should  be  kept  of  each  magazine 
ordered,  of  the  date  when  ordered,  the  date  when  the 


READING    ROOM— PERIODICALS  65 

subscription  begins  and  expires,  the  price  paid,  the 
agency  from  which  it  is  ordered,  and  the  date  of  that 
agency's  receipted  bill.  This  list  is  best  kept  on  cards, 
a  card  to  each  journal,  and  all  alphabetically  arranged. 
It  saves  much  trouble  when  dealing  with  an  agency 
to  have  subscriptions  coincide  with  the  calendar  year, 
disregarding  the  volume  arrangements  of  the  publishers. 


66  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XV 
List  of  periodicals  for  a  small  library 

Those  starred  are  indexed  in  the  Eclectic  Library  Catalog,  an  Author 
and  Subject  index  to  20  magazines  as  are  also  recent  government  publica- 
tions most  useful  in  a  small  library.  Cumulated  quarterly.  Wilson  Co., 
St.  Paul,  Minn.,  $4- 

[See  also  chapter  ix  List  of  things  needed  in  beginning  work.] 

*Century  magazine   (monthly),  illus.     N.  Y.     Century 

Co.,  $4. 
*Harper's  new  monthly  magazine,  illus.    N.  Y.    Harper, 

$4- 
*St.  Nicholas  (monthly),  illus.     N.  Y.     Century  Co.,  $3. 

Forum  (monthly),  N.  Y.    Forum  Publishing  Co.,  $2. 

Harper's  weekly,  illus.     N.  Y.     Harper,  $4. 

Youth's  companion  (weekly).     Boston,     Perry  Mason 

Co.,  $1.75. 
*McClure's    magazine    (monthly),    illus.      N.    Y.      Mc- 

Clure,  $1.50. 
^Ladies'  home  journal  (monthly),  illus.     Phila.     Curtis 

Pub.  Co.,  $1.50. 

^Independent  (weekly),  illus.     N.  Y.     $2. 
*Outlook  (weekly),  illus.     N.  Y.     $3. 

Engineering  magazine  (monthly),  illus.     N.  Y.     $3. 

Life  (weekly),  illus.     N.  Y.     $5. 

Nineteenth  century  and  after  (monthly).     London,  $8. 
*Review  of  reviews  (monthly),  illus.     N.  Y.     $2.50. 

Contemporary  review  (monthly).     London,  $7.50. 
*  Atlantic  monthly.     Boston.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  $4. 
*Chautauquan  (monthly),  illus.    Chautauqua,  N.  Y.  $2. 
*Cosmopolitan  (monthly),  illus.     N.  Y.     $i. 


LIST    OF    PERIODICALS    FOR    A    SMALL    LIBRARY          67 

*Current  literature  (monthly).     N.  Y.     Cur.  Lit.  Pub. 

Co.,  $3. 

*North  American  review  (monthly).    N.  Y.    $4. 
*Scribner's  magazine  (monthly),  illus.     N.  Y.     $3. 
*World  today  (monthly),  illus.    Chicago.    $1.50. 
*Survey  (weekly).   N.  Y.    Charity  Organization  Soc.,  $2. 

Nation  (weekly).     N.  Y.     Evening  Post  Co.,  $3. 
*  Educational  review  (monthly).    N.  Y.    Holt,  $3. 

Kindergarten  primary  magazine  (monthly),  illus.  Man- 
istee,  Mich.,  $i. 

Popular  science  monthly,  illus.     N.  Y.    Science  Press, 

«3- 

*Scientific  American  (weekly),  illus.    N.  Y.    Munn,  $3. 

With  supplement,  $7. 
Scientific  American  supplement  (weekly),  illus.    N.  Y. 

Munn,  $5. 

Outing   (monthly),  illus.     N.   Y.     Outing  Publishing 
Co.,  $3. 

1's  work   (monthly),   illus.      N.  Y.      Doubleday, 
Page  &  Co.,  $3. 


68  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Buying  books 

A  good  book  for  a  library,  speaking  of  the  book 
as  to  its  wearing  qualities  and  as  to  the  comfort  of  its 
users,  is  printed  on  paper  which  is  thin  and  pliable, 
but  tough  and  opaque.  Its  type  is  not  necessarily 
large,  but  is  clear-cut  and  uniform,  and  set  forth  with 
ink  that  is  black,  not  muddy.  It  is  well  bound,  the 
book  opening  easily  at  any  point.  The  threads  in  the 
back  are  strong  and  generously  put  in.  The  strings  or 
tapes  onto  which  it  is  sewn  are  stout,  and  are  laced 
into  the  inside  edges  of  the  covers,  or  are  strong  enough 
to  admit  of  a  secure  fastening  with  paste  and  paper. 
In  ordering  books  of  which  several  editions  are  on  the 
market,  specify  the  edition  you  wish.  When  you  have 
found  a  good  edition  of  a  popular  author  like  Scott  or 
Dickens,  make  a  note  of  it  on  the  shelf-list. 

In  giving  your  orders,  always  try  your  local  dealer 
first.  If  he  cannot  give  you  good  terms,  or,  as  is  very 
likely  to  be  the  case,  has  not  the  information  or  the 
facilities  which  enable  him  to  serve  you  well,  submit 
a  copy  of  the  list  to  several  large  book  dealers,  choos- 
ing those  nearest  your  town,  and  ask  for  their  dis- 
counts. It  is  economical,  generally,  to  purchase  all 
your  books  through  one  dealer,  thus  saving  letter  writ- 
ing, misunderstandings,  freight,  express,  and  general 
discomfort. 

Keep  a  record  of  all  books  ordered.  The  best  form 
of  record  is  on  slips,  using  a  separate  slip  for  each 


BUYING    BOOKS 


69 


book.  These  order  slips  should  have  on  them  the 
author's  surname,  brief  title,  number  of  volumes,  abbre- 
viated note  of  place,  publisher,  year,  publisher's  price 
if  known,  name  of  dealer  of  whom  ordered,  date  when 
ordered,  and  if  its  purchase  has  been  requested  by  any- 
one that  person's  name  and  address. 

For  transmitting  the  order  to  the  book  dealer,  a 
list  on  sheets  should  be  made  from  the  order  slips, 
arranged  either  by  publishers  or  alphabetically  by 
authors.  This  list  may  be  written  on  one  side  of  the 
paper  only,  with  copying  ink,  and  a  letter- press  copy 


Simple  form  of  order  slip  on  plain  paper.   (Reduced;  actual  size,  7  Jxia J  cm.) 

taken;  or,  make  a  carbon  copy  of  the  sheet  sent  to 
the  dealer.  The  carbon  copy  has  the  advantage  of 
being  easier  to  handle  and  better  to  write  on.  The 
books  as  received  should  be  checked  by  the  order  cards. 
The  cards  for  books  received  should  be  put  by  them- 
selves, alphabetically,  and  kept  until  the  books  they 
represent  have  been  cataloged  and  the  cards  for  them 
have  been  properly  entered  in  the  card  catalog.  You 
thus  will  have  lists  i )  of  books  ordered  and  not  received ; 
2)  of  books  received  and  not  cataloged;  3)  of  books 
cataloged.  If  few  books  are  bought  this  work  is 
unnecessary. 


A    LIJRARY    PRIMER 


Some  libraries  find  that  an  order-slip  copied  in  tripli- 
cate by  the  use  of  carbon  paper  laid  between  the  order- 
slips  is  a  time-saver.  One  copy  is  held  at  the  library, 
one  copy  is  sent  to  the  bookseller  and  the  third  copy 
is  sent  to  the  Library  of  Congress  for  cards. 

Books  will  often  be  ordered  at  the  request  of  inter- 
ested persons.  In  such  cases  the  name  and  address 
of  the  person  asking  for  the  book  should  be  entered 
on  the  bottom  of  the  order  slip  for  that  book.  When 
the  book  comes,  and  has  been  made  ready  for  use, 
send  a  note  to  this  person,  notifying  him  of  the  fact 
of  its  arrival. 

Do  not  be  tempted  by  a  large  discount  to  give 
orders  to  irresponsible  persons.  A  library  should  secure 


Author's 

Title 


e.  followed  t*  t"*n  i 


WRITE    LEGIBLY 


Editio. 

* 

Year 


NOT  in  grert  ha*. 


No.  of  Veil.       Site 


1  recommend  the  above  for  the  library.         Notice  of  receipt  is  NOT  asked 


Fill  above  u  fully  at  possible.    Croe.  out  NOT.  if  notice  is  wmmcd.  if  in  treat  need  or  special  haste 
Put  a?b«forc  uemiof  which  rouareno*  cure.     Give  reason*  for  rccommendinc  OS  TEE  BA.CT 


Order  slip.      (Reduced;  actual  size,  7^x1 2$  cm.) 

from  25  to  35  per  cent  discount.  Do  not  buy  ordinary 
subscription  books  or  books  on  the  installment  plan. 
Do  not  anticipate  revenues,  and  do  not  spend  all  your 
money  at  once;  if  you  do  you  will  miss  many  a  bar- 


BUYING    BOOKS  71 

gain,  and  have  to  go  without  books  that  are  needed 
more  than  those  you  have  bought.  Buy  good  but  not 
expensive  editions.  Do  not  spend  on  a  single  costly 
work,  of  interest  to  few  and  seldom  used  by  that  few, 
a  sum  that  would  buy  20  or  perhaps  100  volumes  that 
would  be  in  constant  profitable  use  by  many.  Buy 
no  book  unless  by  personal  acquaintance,  or  upon 
competent  and  trustworthy  testimony,  it  is  worth  add- 
ing to  your  library.  Do  not  feel  that  you  must  buy 
complete  sets  of  an  author,  or  all  of  any  "series;"  all 
the  works  of  very  few  authors  are  worth  having.  Do 
not  buy  cheap  editions  of  fiction;  the  paper,  press- 
work,  and  binding  are  poor,  and  to  buy  them  is  a  waste 
of  money.  The  best  is  none  too  good  in  buying  fiction, 
for  it  wears  out  fast,  and  has  to  be  rebound,  and  then 
replaced.  Do  not  buy  a  lot  of  second-hand  fiction  to 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  You  cannot  expect 
them  to  keep  their  books  clean  if  you  start  them  out 
with  dirty  pages,  soiled  plates,  and  a  general  hand- 
me-down  air. 

Books  for  young  people  must  be  interesting.  No 
amount  of  excellence  in  other  directions  will  com- 
pensate for  dull  books. 

Do  not  trust  too  much  to  the  second-hand  dealer. 
Avoid  subscription  books.  Do  not  buy  of  a  book  agent ; 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  you  can  find  better  and  cheaper 
books  at  the  stores.  Almost  all  subscription  books 
come  to  the  second-hand  man,  in  a  short  time,  and 
from  him  can  be  bought  cheaply.  A  well  selected  and 
judiciously  purchased  library,  with  such  works  of 
reference  as  are  needed,  will  cost,  on  an  average,  $1.25 
a  volume. 

The  following  notes  were  prepared  by  a  bookseller 


72  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

of  experience,  and  should  be  carefully  considered  before 
beginning  to  buy  books: 

Any  bookseller  worthy  your  patronage  will  be  able 
to  assist  you  by  pointing  out  the  most  desirable  edition 
for  general  library  use. 

There  is  every  reason  for  placing  your  orders  with 
your  local  dealer  so  long  as  he  can  care  for  them  intelli- 
gently. A  large  discount  should  not  be  the  sole  factor 
in  deciding  where  to  buy,  but  keep  in  mind  this,  a 
conscientious  bookseller  can  save  you  money  by  care- 
fully watching  your  interests  in  the  very  many  details 
that  pertain  to  bookbuying.  Having  decided  on  your 
bookseller  agent,  place  all  your  orders  with  him.  It 
will  save  you  time,  which  is  equivalent  to  money. 
Keep  an  exact  duplicate  copy  of  every  order  you  place, 
and  for  this  purpose  a  manifold  book  is  preferable.  In 
writing  your  orders  never  write  on  both  sides  of  a 
sheet ;  arrange  your  items  alphabetically  by  author,  and 
make  all  your  entries  as  complete  and  full  as  possible. 
This  is  particularly  important  in  the  case  of  books  in 
the  field  of  science,  history,  and  biography.  The  more 
clear  and  definite  your  orders,  the  more  promptly  and 
completely  can  your  bookseller  supply  them. 

An  ideal  bookseller,  qualified  to  act  as  your  agent, 
is  one  who  has  familiarized  himself  with  the  various 
editions  of  books,  and  will  always  make  selections  with 
greater  stress  on  quality  than  quantity;  who  will  not 
send  you  the  second  edition  of  a  scientific  work  when 
a  third  is  out;  who  will  avoid  sending  you  expensive 
publications  (even  though  you  may  have  ordered  them) 
until  he  is  satisfied  that  you  want  them;  who  will  exert 
himself  to  get  desirable  books  that  may  be  out  of  print 
or  issued  by  an  out-of-the-way  publisher;  who  will 


BUYING    BOOKS  73 

always  be  prepared  to  advise  you  as  to  the  latest  work 
on  any  particular  subject,  as  well  as  the  best  work. 

These  points  are  of  greater  importance  to  the  live 
librarian  than  is  the  percentage  of  discount.  Say 
nothing  about  per  cents;  to  do  so  is  misleading  and 
unsatisfactory  always.  No  one  understands  you. 

It  is  safe  to  estimate  that  your  purchases  of  fiction 
and  juvenile  literature  will  average  inside  of  $i  per 
volume. 

A  general  list,  including  reference  books,  of  say 
4000V.,  would  average  about  $1.25  per  volume,  or  $5,000 

Make  your  purchases  with  the  needs  of  your  com- 
munity clearly  in  mind,  securing  such  books  as  will 
be  constantly  in  use,  and  thereby  get  returns  for  your 
expenditure.  The  expensive  publications  and  books 
that  are  called  for  only  at  rare  intervals  should  be  left 
to  libraries  with  very  large  incomes,  and  to  those 
making  special  collections. 

Where  possible  to  do  so  avoid  buying  large  bills  of 
books  at  long  intervals.  It  is  better  to  spend  an  income 
of  $600  per  year  in  monthly  installments  of  $50,  than 
it  is  to  buy  twice  a  year  $300  lots. 

The  frequent  purchase  will  bring  you  the  new  and 
talked  of  books  while  they  are  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
people,  and  there  is  greater  economy  of  time  in  cata- 
loging and  shelving  them. 

Have  confidence  in  your  agent,  for  your  interests 
are  always  his. 


74  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XVII 
Ink  and  handwriting 

For  catalog  cards  and  all  other  records  use  a  non- 
copying  black,  permanent  ink.  Carter's  record  ink  is 
good.  It  has  been  adopted,  after  careful  investigation, 
by  the  state  of  Massachusetts  for  all  official  records. 
The  New  York  state  library  school,  at  Albany,  has 
issued  a  little  handbook  on  "library  handwriting," 
which  recommends  Carter's  record,  and  says  they  use 
Stafford's  blue  writing  ink  for  blue  and  his  carmine 
combined  for  red. 

For  all  labels  on  the  outside  of  books,  and  for  all 
writing  on  surfaces  which  may  be  much  handled,  use 
Higgins'  American  drawing  ink,  waterproof. 

The  vertical  hand  should  be  used  in  all  library  work. 
The  following  rules,  with  the  illustrations,  are  taken 
from  the  Albany  school  handbook  above  referred  to: 

Brief  rules 

1  Ink.     Use   only  standard   library  ink   and    let   it 
dry  without  blotting. 

2  Position.     Sit   squarely  at  the  desk  and  as  nearly 
erect  as  possible. 

3  Alphabets.     Follow  the  library  hand  forms  of   all 
letters,   avoiding  any  ornament,   nourish,   or  lines  not 
essential  to  the  letter. 

4  Size.    Small  letters,  taking  m  as  the  unit,  are  one 
space  or  two  millimeters  high;  i.  e.  one-third  the  dis- 
tance between  the  rulings  of  the  standard  catalog  card. 


INK    AND    HANDWRITING  75 

Capitals  and  extended  letters  are  two  spaces  high 
above  the  base  line  or  run  one  space  below,  except  t, 
the  character  &,  and  figures,  which  are  one  and  one- 
half  spaces  high. 

6  Slant.  Make  letters  upright  with  as  little  slant 
as  possible,  and  uniformly  the  same,  preferring  a  trifle 
backward  rather  than  forward  slant. 

6  Spacing.     Separate  words  by  space  of  one  m  and 
sentences  by  two  m's.     Leave  uniform  space,  between 
letters  of  a  word. 

7  Shading.      Make   a   uniform    black   line    with    no 
shading.     Avoid  hair  line  strokes. 

8  Uniformity.     Take  great   pains  to   have   all  writ- 
ing uniform  in  size,  slant,  spacing,  blackness  of  lines 
and  forms  of  letters. 

9  Special  letters  and  figures.     In    both    joined    and 
disjoined  hands  dot  i  and  cross  t  accurately  to  avoid 
confusion;    e.    g.    Giulio    carelessly    dotted    has    been 
arranged   under    Guilio    in    the   catalog.    Cross   t    one 
space  from  line.     Dot  i  and  j  one  and  one-half  spaces 
from  line.     In  foreign  languages   special   care  is  essen- 
tial. 

Joined  hand.  Connect  all  the  letters  of  a  word  into 
a  single  word  picture.  Complete  each  letter;  e.  g.  do 
not  leave  gap  between  body  and  stem  of  b  and  d,  bring 
loop  of  f  back  to  stem,  etc. 

Avoid  slanting  r  and  s  differently  from  other  letters. 
They  should  be  a  trifle  over  one  space  in  height.  The 
small  p  is  made  as  in  print,  and  is  not  extended  above 
the  line  as  in  ordinary  script. 

Disjoined  hand.  Avoid  all  unnecessary  curves.  The 
principal  down  strokes  in  b,  d,  f,  h,  i,  j,  k,  1,  m,  n,  p, 
q,  r,  t,  u,  and  the  first  line  in  e,  should  be  straight. 


76  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


SPECIMEN  ALPHABETS  AND  FIGURES 
Joined  Hand 


CXB  C  D  <D  tT  Q  H3<]  Kl 

mnopaRSTuvvw 
ui  x  v  M  z 

aCrcdl  t  f  J  g  ?  «j  K  K.  I  j  k  fc. 


1234-561&90 


c^nJUxJt   ^l^cxi^rub    to 
\JL>njLtjLnruQ.    ULrru^Eo^VYTL    Lrrv. 

&    ^cxxrrrOb 


Disjoined  Hand 

ABCDEF  GHIJKLMN 
OPQR5TUVWXYZ 

abcdefghij    kl    m    no 
c]rstuv\A^xyz 

1234561890        8c 
Take    great    pains   to    have    all 
writing    uniform    in    size,    slant, 
spacing    &   forms    of   letters. 


INK.    AND    HANDWRITING  77 

Make  all  the  small  letters,  except  f,  i,  j,  k,  t,  x 
and  y,  without  lifting  pen  from  paper. 

Make  g  and  Q  in  one  stroke,  moving  from  left  to 
right  like  the  hands  of  a  watch.  Begin  on  the  line. 

Take  special  pains  with  the  letter  r,  as  carelessly 
made  it  is  easily  mistaken  for  v  or  y. 

Make  the  upper  part  of  B,  R,  and  S  a  trifle  smaller 
than  the  lower  part. 

Figures.  Make  all  figures  without  lifting  the  pen. 
Begin  4  with  the  horizontal  line.  Make  the  upper 
part  of  3  and  8  smaller  than  the  lower  part;  8  is  best 
made  by  beginning  in  the  center. 


78  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  care  of  books 

Books  of  moderate  size  should  stand  up  on  the 
shelves.  Large  books  keep  better  if  they  are  laid  on 
their  sides;  when  they  stand,  the  weight  of  the  leaves 
is  a  pull  on  the  binding  which  tends  to  draw  the  books 
out  of  shape,  and  sometimes  breaks  them.  Books 
which  stand  up  should  never  be  permitted  to  lean 
over,  but  should  be  kept  always  perfectly  erect;  the 
leaning  wrenches  them  out  of  shape,  and  soon  breaks 
the  binding.  A  row  of  books  which  does  not  com- 
fortably fill  a  shelf  should  be  kept  up  at  one  end  by 


L.  B.  book  support.      (Reduced.) 

a  book  support.  There  are  several  good  supports  on 
the  market.  The  Crocker  is  excellent;  so  is  the  one 
described  in  the  Library  Bureau  catalog. 

Books  as  they  come  from  the  dealer  are  not  always 
perfect.  To  make  sure  that  their  purchases  are  in  good 
condition  some  libraries  collate  all  their  books  as  soon 
as  received,  that  is,  look  them  through  with  care  for 


THE    CARE    OF    BOOKS  79 

missing  pages,  and  injuries  of  any  kind.  Imperfect 
volumes  are  returned.  But  save  with  very  expensive 
books  this  labor  is  unnecessary,  and  doesn't  pay.  The 
time  spent  on  it  easily  amounts  to  more  than  the  cost 
of  replacing  the  very  few  books  which  may  by  chance 
be  later  found  imperfect.  In  fact,  any  responsible 
dealer  will  usually  replace  an  imperfect  copy  with  a 
good  one  even  if  the  former  bears  a  library  mark,  and 
has  been  handled  a  little. 

Use  care  in  cutting  pages.  Don't  cut  them  with 
anything  but  a  smooth,  dull  edge.  Cut  them  at  the 
top  close  to  the  fold  in  the  back. 

The  worst  enemies  of  books  are  careless  people. 

Another  enemy  is  damp.  It  is  bad  for  the  binding; 
it  is  very  bad  for  the  paper. 

Gas,  with  heat,  is  very  destructive  to  books,  espe- 
cially to  the  bindings. 

Books  should  occasionally  be  taken  from  their 
shelves  and  wiped  with  a  soft  cloth.  The  shelves  should 
at  the  same  time  be  taken  down  and  cleaned  thoroughly. 

Don't  hold  a  book  by  one  of  its  covers. 

Don't  pile  up  books  very  high. 

Don't  rub  dust  into  them  instead  of  ruboing  it  off. 

Don't  wedge  books  tightly  into  the  shelves. 

Those  who  use  a  public  library  are  all  desirous  that 
its  books  be  clean  and  neat,  and  with  a  little  encourage- 
ment will  take  pretty  good  care  of  them.  There  are 
exceptions,  of  course,  and  especially  among  the  chil- 
dren. These  must  be  looked  after  and  reasoned  with. 

Don't  cover  your  books.  The  brown  paper  cover 
is  an  insult  to  a  good  book,  a  reproach  to  every  reader 
of  it,  an  incentive  to  careless  handling,  and  an  expense 
without  good  return. 


8o  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

A  few  simple  rules  like  the  following  can  be  brought 
in  an  unobtrusive  way  to  the  attention  of  those  who 
use  the  library.  Always  be  sure  that  the  library  sets 
a  good  example  in  its  handling  of  books. 

Keep  books  dry. 

Do  not  handle  them  when  the  hands  are  moist;  of 
course  never  when  the  hands  are  soiled. 

Use  them  to  read,  and  for  nothing  else. 

Never  mark  in  them. 

Do  not  turn  down  their  pages. 

Do  not  lay  them  face  downwards. 

Do  not  strap  them  up  tightly. 

Never  let  them  fall. 

Open  them  gently. 

The  book  you  are  reading  will  go  to  others.  Pass 
it  on  to  them  neat  and  clean,  hoping  that  they  will 
do  the  same  by  you. 


ACCESSIONING    BOOKS 


8l 


CHAPTER  XIX 
Accessioning  books 

A  careful  record  should  be  made  of  all  books  received. 
Use  for  this  purpose  what  is  called  an  accession  book. 
This  is  a  blank  book,  ruled  and  lettered  and  numbered 


7581 


8-1 

H:> 


F5A 


btnJL 


Accession  book,  left-hand  page.     (Reduced  size.) 


n.ACi  AND  rcujwin 


it 


4UJL  >V>.  354 


Accession  book,  right-hand  page.      (Reduced  size.) 

especially  for  library  invoices.  (See  the  Library  Bureau 
catalog.)  It  is  the  library's  chief  record,  and  should 
contain  a  complete  history  of  every  volume  on  its 
shelves.  The  items  entered  in  the  accession  book  con- 


82  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

cerning  every  volume  in  the  library  are  commonly  the 
following:  date  of  entry;  accession  number;  class  num- 
ber (religion,  sociology,  etc.);  author;  title;  place  of 
publication  and  name  of  publisher ;  date  of  publication ; 
binding  (cloth,  leather,  etc.);  size  (octavo,  quarto,  etc.); 
number  of  pages ;  name  of  dealer  from  whom  purchased ; 
cost;  remarks  (maps,  plates,  etc.;  books  rebound;  maga- 
zines, etc. ;  lost,  worn  out,  replaced  by  another  book,  etc.) 

Each  book  and  each  volume  of  a  set  has  a  separate 
accession  number  and  a  separate  entry.  Each  entry 
occupies  a  line;  each  line  is  numbered  from  one  up  to 
such  a  number  as  the  library  has  volumes.  The  num- 
ber of  each  line,  called  the  accession  number,  is  written 
on  the  first  page  after  the  title-page  of  the  book  described 
on  that  line.  The  accession  book  is  a  life  history  of 
every  book  in  the  library.  It  forms  such  a  record  as 
any  business-like  person  would  wish  to  have  of  prop- 
erty entrusted  to  his  care.  It  is  also  a  catalog  of  all 
books  in  the  library,  and  a  useful  catalog  as  long  as 
the  library  is  small.  Never  use  an  old  accession  number 
for  a  new  book,  even  though  the  original  book  has 
disappeared  from  the  library. 

Record  should  be  made  of  all  books,  pamphlets 
reports,  bulletins,  magazines,  etc.,  received  by  the 
library  as  gifts;  and  every  gift  should  be  promptly 
and  courteously  acknowledged  in  writing,  even  if  pre- 
viously acknowledged  in  person.  Keep  this  record  in 
a  blank  book  or  on  cards,  alphabetizing  all  gifts  by  the 
names  of  the  givers,  with  dates  of  receipt.  Books  given 
should  appear  on  the  accession  register  the  same  as 
books  purchased. 

Some  libraries  have  given  up  the  accession  book  and 
are  using  the  Bates  Numbering  Machine  in  its  place 


ACCESSIONING    BOOKS  83 

This  method  saves  time,  as  the  information  in  the 
accession  book  can  just  as  well  be  given  on  the  shelf 
list  card. 

The  method  is  as  follows: 

Check  the  books  on  a  bill,  write  price,  source  and 
date,  month  and  year  of  bill,  on  page  back  of  title 
page.  This  is  for  easy  reference  to  bills,  and  to  show 
date  of  addition.  Then  stamp  number  on  the  same 
page.  If  you  wish  the  accession  number  to  appear 
twice  in  the  same  book  set  the  Bates  Machine  at  dupli- 
cate, thus  making  two  impressions  of  the  same  number. 
Then  stamp  and  label  book  and  shelf  list,  adding  to 
the  regulation  entries,  cost,  source  and  year  of  publi- 
cation. 

Then  catalog,  revise  and  mark  book  for  circulation. 
Count  all  books  added  and  make  entry  of  each  one 
under  its  class  in  an  ordinary  blank  book. 

The  entries  for  increase  by  purchase,  gift,  etc.,  are 
made  in  the  same  way. 

The  shelf  list  card  is  an  exact  record  of  every  book 
and  adding  additional  items  of  cost,  source,  etc.,  to  it 
saves  labor  of  looking  for  the  accession  number  on  the 
shelf  list  card  and  then  turning  to  the  accession  book 
for  complete  information  about  the  book,  such  as  cost, 
source,  etc. 


84  A    LIPRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XX 

Classifying  books 

The  smallest  public  library  should  be  classified  and 
cataloged.  This  will  make  its  resources  more  easily 
available,  and  will  prevent  the  confusion  and  waste  of 
labor  which  are  sure  to  come  if  systematic  treatment 
of  the  books  is  deferred.  Get  the  best  advice  obtain- 
able; consider  the  library's  field  and  its  possibilities  of 
growth,  and  let  the  first  work  on  the  books  be  such 
as  will  never  need  to  be  done  over. 

To  classify  books  is  to  place  them  in  groups,  each 
group  including,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  all  the  books 
treating  of  a  given  subject,  for  instance,  geology;  or 
all  the  books,  on  whatever  subject,  cast  in  a  particular 
form — for  instance,  poetry;  or  all  the  books  having  to 
do  with  a  particular  period  of  time — for  instance,  the 
middle  ages.  Few  books  are  devoted  exclusively  to 
one  subject  and  belong  absolutely  in  any  one  class. 
The  classification  of  books  must  be  a  continual  com- 
promise. Its  purpose  is  not  accurately  to  classify  all 
printed  things,  this  can't  be  done;  but  simply  to  make 
certain  sources  of  information — books — more  available. 
Any  classification,  if  it  gets  the  books  on  a  given  sub- 
ject side  by  side,  and  those  on  allied  subjects  near  one 
another,  is  a  good  one. 

Books  may  be  classified  into  groups  in  a  catalog 
or  list,  yet  themselves  stand  without  order  on  the 
shelves.  For  convenience  in  getting  for  anyone  all  the 
books  on  a  given  subject,  and  especially  for  the  help 


CLASSIFYING      BOOKS  85 

of  those  who  are  permitted  to  visit  the  shelves,  all 
books  should  stand  in  their  appropriate  classes.  Each 
book,  therefore,  should  bear  a  mark  which  will  tell  in 
what  class  it  belongs;  distinguish  it  from  all  other  books 
in  that  class ;  show  where  it  stands  on  the  shelves  among 
its  fellows  of  the  same  class;  and  indicate  which  one 
it  is  of  several  possible  copies  of  the  same  book.  This 
mark  can  be  used  to  designate  the  book  in  all  records 
of  it,  instead  of  the  larger  entry  of  its  author  and  title. 

There  are  two  classification  systems  worthy  of  con- 
sideration, the  Dewey,  or  decimal,  and  the  Cutter,  or 
expansive.  They  are  outlined  in  the  following  chapters. 
Don't  try  to  devise  a  system  of  your  own. 

Having  decided  on  your  system  of  classification, 
begin  to  classify.  This  is  one  of  the  many  things  which 
can  only  be  learned  by  doing.  Give  fiction  no  class 
number,  but  an  author  number  or  "book-mark"  only, 
as  explained  in  a  later  chapter.  Give  all  biography  a 
single  letter  as  its  class  number,  and  follow  this  by  the 
author  number. 

Distinguish  all  juvenile  books,  whether  fiction  or 
other,  by  writing  before  their  numbers  some  distinguish- 
ing symbol. 

Take  up  first,  in  classification  proper,  the  subjects 
of  history  and  travel,  which  will  be  found  compara- 
tively easy. 

It  is  easier  to  classify  25  or  50  books  at  a  time  in 
any  given  class  than  it  is  to  classify  them  singly  as 
you  come  to  them  in  the  midst  of  books  of  other  classes. 
Consequently,  group  your  books  roughly  into  classes 
before  you  begin  work  on  them. 

As  soon  as  a  book  is  classified  enter  it  at  once  in 
your  shelf-list — explained  in  a  later  chapter — and  see 


86  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

that  an  author-card  for  it  is  put  in  the  author  catalog — 
explained  later — with  its  proper  number  thereon. 

If,  after  you  have  made  up  your  mind,  from  an 
examination  of  the  title-page,  or  table  of  contents,  or 
a  few  pages  here  and  there,  what  subject  a  book  treats 
of  in  the  main,  you  are  still  in  doubt  in  what  class  to 
place  it,  consider  what  kind  of  readers  will  be  likely 
to  ask  for  it,  and  in  what  class  they  will  be  likely  to 
look  for  it,  and  put  it  into  that  class.  In  doubtful 
cases  the  catalogs  of  other  libraries  are  often  good 
guides. 

Keep  your  classification  as  consistent  as  possible. 
Before  putting  a  book,  about  which  there  is  any  oppor- 
tunity for  choice,  in  the  class  you  have  selected  for  it, 
examine  your  shelf-list  and  see  that  the  books  already 
there  are  of  like  nature  with  it. 

Classify  as  well  as  you  can,  and  don't  worry  if  you 
find  you  have  made  errors.  There  are  always  errors. 
Don't  get  into  the  habit  of  changing.  Try  to  be  con- 
sistent in  classifying,  and  stand  by  what  you  have  done. 


THE    DEWEY    SYSTEM    OF    CLASSIFICATION  87 


CHAPTER  XXI 
The  Dewey  or  Decimal  system  of  classification 

[From  the  Introduction  to  the  Decimal  classification  and  Relative  index. 
Published  by  the  Library  Bureau,  $5.] 

The  field  of  knowledge  is  divided  into  nine  main 
classes,  and  these  are  numbered  by  the  digits  i  to  9. 
Cyclopedias,  periodicals,  etc.,  so  general  in  character 
as  to  belong  to  no  one  of  these  classes,  are  marked 
nought,  and  form  a  tenth  class.  Each  class  is  sim- 
ilarly separated  into  nine  divisions,  general  works 
belonging  to  no  division  having  nought  in  place  of  the 
division  number.  Divisions  are  similarly  divided  into 
nine  sections,  and  the  process  is  repeated  as  often  as 
necessary.  Thus  512  means  Class  5  (Natural  science), 
Division  i  (Mathematics),  Section  2  (Algebra),  and 
every  algebra  is  numbered  512. 

The  books  on  the  shelves  and  the  cards  in  the  sub- 
ject catalog  are  arranged  in  simple  numerical  order, 
all  class  numbers  being  decimals.  Since  each  subject 
has  a  definite  number,  it  follows  that  all  books  on  any 
subject  must  stand  together.  The  tables  show  the 
order  in  which  subjects  follow  one  another.  Thus  512 
Algebra  precedes  513  Geometry,  and  follows  511 
Arithmetic. 

In  the  book  after  the  tables  of  the  classes  arranged 
in  their  numerical  order  is  an  index,  in  which  all  the 
heads  of  the  tables  are  arranged  in  one  simple  alpha- 
bet, with  the  class  number  of  each  referring  to  its 
exact  place  in  the  preceding  tables.  This  index  includes 


88  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

also,  as  far  as  they  have  been  found,  all  the  synonyms 
or  alternative  names  for  the  heads,  and  many  other 
entries  that  seem  likely  to  help  a  reader  find  readily 
the  subject  sought.  Though  the  user  knows  just  where 
to  turn  to  his  subject  in  the  tables,  by  first  consulting 
the  index  he  may  be  sent  to  other  allied  subjects, 
where  he  will  find  valuable  matter  which  he  would 
otherwise  overlook. 

The  claims  of  the  system  may  be  summed  up  as 
follows:  compared  with  other  systems  it  is  less  expen- 
sive; more  easily  understood,  remembered,  and  used; 
practical  rather  than  theoretical;  brief  and  familiar  in 
its  nomenclature;  best  for  arranging  pamphlets,  sale 
duplicates,  and  notes,  and  for  indexing;  susceptible  of 
partial  and  gradual  adoption  without  confusion;  more 
convenient  in  keeping  statistics  and  checks  for  books 
off  the  shelves;  the  most  satisfactory  adaptation  of  the 
card  catalog  principle  to  the  shelves.  It  requires  less 
space  to  shelve  the  books;  uses  simpler  symbols  and 
fewer  of  them;  can  be  expanded,  without  limit  and 
without  confusion  or  waste  of  labor,  in  both  catalogs 
and  on  shelves,  or  in  catalogs  alone;  checks  more 
thoroughly  and  conveniently  against  mistakes;  admits 
more  readily  numerous  cross  references ;  is  unchangeable 
in  its  call-numbers,  and  so  gives  them  in  all  places 
where  needed,  as  given  in  no  other  system;  in  its  index 
affords  an  answer  to  the  greatest  objection  to  class 
catalogs,  and  is  the  first  satisfactory  union  of  the 
advantages  of  the  class  and  dictionary  systems. 

The  Decimal  system  is  used  by  a  large  number  of 
libraries  in  this  country,  and  has  gained  recognition 
and  has  been  put  to  use  by  some  librarians  and  men 
of  science  in  Europe. 


THE    DEWEY    SYSTEM    OF    CLASSIFICATION 


Divisions 


000  General  Works 

oio  Bibliography. 

020  Library  Economy. 

030  General  Cyclopedias. 

040  General  Collections. 

050  General  Periodicals. 

060  Generai  Societies. 

070  Newspapers. 

080  Special  Libraries.    Polygraphy. 

090  Book  Rarities. 

100  Philosophy 

no  Metaphysics. 

i  ao  Special  Metaphysical  Topics. 

130  Mind  and  Bo<ly 

140  Philosophical  Systems. 

150  Mental  Faculties.    Psychology. 

160  Logic. 

170  Ethics. 

1 80  Ancient  Philosophers. 

190  Modern  Philosophers. 

200  Religion 


500  Natural  Science 

510  Mathematics. 
520  Astronomy. 
530  Physics. 
540  Chemistry. 
550  Geology. 
560  Paleontology. 
570   Biology. 
580  Botany. 
590  Zoology. 

600  Useful  Arts 

6 10  Medicine. 

620  Engineering. 

630  Agriculture. 

640  Domestic  Economy. 

650  Communication  and  Commerce. 

660  Chemical  Technology. 

670  Manufactures. 

680  Mechanic  Trades. 

690  Building. 

700  Fine  Arts 


710  Landscape  Gardening. 

720  Architecture. 

730  Sculpture. 

740  Drawing.  Design,  Decoration. 


a  10  Natural  Theology. 

320  Bible. 

330  Doctrinal  Theol.    Dogmatics. 

340  Devotional  and  Practical 

250   Homiletic.    Pastoral.    Parochial.  750  Painting. 

260  Church.    Institutions.    Work.         760  Engraving. 

370  Religious  History.  770  Photography. 

380  Christian  Churches  and  Sects.        780  Music. 

390  Non-Christian  Religions.  790  Amusements. 


300  Sociology 

310  Statistics. 

330  Political  Science. 

330  Political  Economy. 

340  Law. 

350  Administration. 

360  Associations  and  Institutions. 

370  Education. 

380  Commerce  and  Communication, 

390  Customs.  Costumes.  Folk-lore. 

400  Philology 

410  Comparative. 

430  English. 

430  German. 

440  French. 

450  Italian. 

460  Spanish. 

470  Latin. 

480  Greek. 

490  Minor  Languages. 


800  Literature 

8 10  American. 

830  English. 

830  German. 

840  French. 

850  Italian 

860  Spanish. 

870  Latin. 

880  Greek. 

890  Minor  Languages. 

900  History 

910  Geography  and  Description. 

920  Biography. 

930  Ancient  History. 

940        /Europe. 

950  £  i  Asia. 

960  «>/  Africa. 

970  o  \North  America. 

980  S  I  South  America. 

990        *  Oceanica  and    Polar  Regions. 


go  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXII 
The  Expansive  classification:   G.  A.  Gutter's 

The  classification 

Those  who  have  used  it  call  it  common-sense  and 
up-to-date.  They  say  that  it  is  clear  and  easy  to  apply, 
and  that  it  gives  a  suitable  place  for  many  classes  of 
books  for  which  other  systems  make  no  provision,  or 
provide  badly.  It  has  been  maturing  for  20  years. 
Before  it  was  printed  it  was  applied  (with  a  different 
notation)  to  the  arrangement  of  a  library  of  over  150,- 
ooov.  The  experience  thus  gained  has  been  supple- 
mented as  each  part  was  prepared  for  the  press  by 
searching  catalogs,  bibliographies,  and  treatises  on  the 
subject  classified.  This  ensured  fullness,  Overclassi- 
fication,  on  the  other  hand,  has  been-  guarded  against 
in  four  ways:  i)  By  not  introducing  at  all  distinctions 
that  are  purely  theoretical  or  very  difficult  to  apply; 
2)  by  printing  in  small  type  those  divisions  which  are 
worth  making  only  when  a  large  number  of  books  calls 
for  much  subdivision;  3)  by  warning  classifiers  in  the 
notes  that  certain  divisions  are  needed  only  in  large 
libraries;  4)  by  printing  separately  seven  classifications 
of  progressive  fullness,  the  first  having  only  n  classes, 
which  would  be  enough  for  a  very  small  library;  the 
second  having  15  classes  and  16  geographical  divisions, 
suiting  the  small  library  when  it  has  grown  a  little 
larger;  the  third  having  30  classes  and  29  geographical 
divisions;  and  so  on,  till  the  seventh  would  suffice  for 


EXPANSIVE    CLASSIFICATION  QI 

the  very  largest  library.  The  same  notation  is  used 
throughout,  so  that  a  library  can  adopt  the  fuller  classi- 
fication with  the  least  possible  change  of  mark. 

It  often  suggests  alternative  places  for  a  subject, 
stating  the  reasons  for  and  against  each,  so  that  classi- 
fiers have  a  liberty  of  choice  according  to  the  character 
of  their  libraries,  or  of  their  clientage,  or  their  own 
preferences. 

The  notation 

The  original  feature  of  this  notation  is  the  use  of 
letters  to  mark  non-local  subjects  and  figures  for  places. 
This  makes  it  possible  to  express  the  local  relations  of 
a  subject  in  a  perfectly  unmistakable  way,  the  letters 
never  being  used  to  signify  countries,  and  the  figures 
never  being  used  for  any  other  subjects  but  countries. 
Thus  45  is  England  wherever  it  occurs;  e.  g.  F  being 
history  and  G  geography,  ?45  is  the  history  of  Eng- 
land, 045  the  geography  of  England.  This  local  nota- 
tion can  be  used  not  merely  with  the  main  classes,  but 
in  every  subdivision,  no  matter  how  minute,  which  is 
worth  dividing  by  countries.  Whenever  one  wishes  to 
separate  what  relates  to  England  from  other  works  on 
any  subject  one  has  only  to  add  the  two  figures  45. 
Whenever  one  sees  45  in  the  mark  of  a  book  one  knows 
that  the  book  so  marked  treats  its  subject  with  special 
reference  to  England.  This  "local  list"  by  the  figures 
from  ii  to  99  gives  marks  to  the  88  most  important 
countries.  The  addition  of  a  third  and  sometimes  of 
a  fourth  figure  gives  marks  for  all  the  independent 
countries  in  the  world.  Parts  of  and  places  in  coun- 
tries are  arranged  alphabetically  under  each,  and  are 
marked  either  by  the  usual  Cutter  order-table,  which 


Q2  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

has  initial  letters  followed  by  figures,  or  by  a  special 
Cutter  order-table  composed  of  figures  alone. 

Non-local  subjects  are  marked  with  letters,  first,  to 
distinguish  them  from  local  subjects;  and,  second, 
because  of  the  greater  capacity.  There  are  26  main 
classes,  A  to  Z.  By  adding  a  second  letter  these  are 
divided  into  676  parts,  and  these,  by  adding  a  third 
letter,  into  17,576  parts,  making  18,278  in  all,  so  that 
as  one  uses  successively  three,  four,  or  five  characters, 
one  gets  respectively  18  times,  46  times,  and  118  times 
the  capacity  of  a  decimal  notation.  The  result  is,  short 
marks,  numerous  subdivisions,  much  greater  elasticity, 
much  greater  power  to  properly  express  the  relations 
of  subjects  to  one  another,  and  their  relations  to  sub- 
ordinate subjects,  and  much  more  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing the  different  portions  of  the  classification  correspond 
to  each  other. 

The  first  part  of  the  classification,  as  published, 
contains  the  first  six  classifications  and  a  combined 
index  to  them  all.  The  seventh,  the  fullest  classifica- 
tion, is  in  process  of  publication,  and  is  nearing  com- 
pletion, only  a  portion  of  the  natural  sciences  and 
applied  sciences  remaining  incomplete.  When  these 
are  printed  a  full  index  to  the  whole  will  be  made. 

Expansive  classification.     Outline 

A  Generalia. 

A  General  works. 

Ae  General  encyclopedias. 

Ap  General  periodicals. 

Ar  Reference  works. 

As  General  societies. 


EXPANSIVE    CLASSIFICATION  93 

B-D  Spiritual  sciences. 

B  Philosophy. 

Ba-Bf  National  Philosophies  and  Systems  of  philosophy. 

Bg  Metaphysics. 

Bh  Logic. 

Bi  Psychology. 

Bm  Moral  Philosophy. 

Br  Religion,  Natural  theology. 

Bt  Religions. 

Bu  Folk-lore. 

C.i  Judaism. 

Cb  Bible. 

Cc  Christianity. 

Cc«,  Pa«ri«tics. 

C«  Apologetic*.  Evidences. 

Cf  Doctrinal  theology. 

Ck  Ethical  theology. 

Cp  Ritual  theology  and  church  Polity. 

Cx  Pastoral  theology. 

Ci  Sermons. 

D  Ecclesiastical  history. 

Dk  Particular  churches  and  sects. 

E-G  Historical  sciences. 

E  Biography  and  Portraits. 

F-Fz  History. 

F  Universal  history. 

Fo2  Ancient  history. 

Fo3  Modern  history. 

Fo4  Medieval  history. 

F11-F93  History  of  single  countries  (using  local  list). 

Fa-Fw  Allied  studies,  as  Chronology,  Philosophy  of  History, 
History  of  Civilization,  Antiquities,  Numis- 
matics, Chivalry,  Heraldry. 

G  Geography,  Travels. 

G11-G99  Single  countries  (using  local  list). 

Ga  Ancient  geography. 

Of  Surveying  and  Map-making. 

Gz  Maps. 


94  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

H  Social  sciences. 

Hb  Statistics. 

He  Economics. 

He  Production. 

Hi  Labor. 

Hi  Slavery. 

Hj  Transportation. 

Hk  Commerce. 

Hm  Money. 

Hn  Banking. 

Hr  Private  finance. 

Ht  Taxation  and  Public  finance. 

Hu  Tariff. 

Hw  Property,  Capital. 

Hz  Consumption. 

I  Demotics,  Sociology. 
Ic  Crime. 

Ig  Charity. 

Ih  Providence. 

Ik  Education. 

J  Civics,  Government,  Political  science, 

Ju  Constitutions  and  Politics. 

K  Law  and  Legislation. 

Kd  Public  documents. 

L-Q  Natural  sciences. 

L  General  works,  Metrics. 

L  Number  and  space. 

Lb  Mathematics. 

Lh-Lr    Matter  and  force. 

Lh  Physics. 

Lo  Chemistry. 

Lr  Astronomy. 

M-Q      Matter  and  life 

M  Natural  history. 


EXPANSIVE    CLASSIFICATION  95 

Mg  Geology,  incl.  Mineralogy,  Crystallography, 
Physical  geography,  Meteorology,  Pa- 
leontology. 

My  Biology. 

N  Botany. 

O  Zoology. 

Pv  Anthropology,  Ethnology,  Ethnography. 

Q  Medicine. 

Q-Z  Arts. 

R  General  works,  Exhibitions,  Patents. 

Rd-Rg    Extractive  arts. 

Rd  Mining. 

Re  Metallurgy. 

Rf  Mineral  Resources. 

Rg  Agriculture. 

Ri  Horticulture. 

Rj  Forestry. 

Rk  Animaliculture. 

Ro  Domestic  Economy. 

S  Constructive  arts,  Engineering. 

Sd  Construction. 

Sj  Sanitary  Engineering. 

SI  Hydraulic  Engineering. 

Sn  Transportation  and  Communication. 

T  Fabricative   arts,    Machinery,    Manufactures, 

and  Handicrafts. 
U  Protective  arts,  i.  e.,  Military  and  Naval  arts, 

Life-preserving,  Fire-fighting. 
V  Athletic    and    Recreative    arts,    Sports    and 

Games. 

Vs  Gymnastics. 

Vt  Theater. 

Vv  Music. 

W  Fine  arts,  plastic  and  graphic. 


96  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

We  Landscape  gardening. 

Wf  Architecture. 

Wj  Sculpture. 

Wk  Casting,  Baking,  Firing. 

Wm  Drawing. 

Wp  Painting. 

Wq  Engraving. 

Wr  Photography. 

Ws  Decorative  arts,  including  Costume. 

X-Yf  Communicative  arts  (by  language). 

X  Philology. 

X  Inscriptions. 

X  Language. 

Y  Literature. 

Yf  English  Fiction. 

Z  Book  arts  (making  and  use  of  books). 

Za-Zk  Production. 

Za  Authorship. 

Zb  Rhetoric. 

Zd  Writing. 

Zh  Printing. 

Zk  Binding. 

Zl  Distribution  (Publishing  and  Bookselling). 

Zp  Storage  and  Use  (Libraries). 

Zt  Description  (Zt  Bibliography ;  Zx  Selection  of  reading; 
Zy  Literary  history ;  Zz  National  bibliography). 


AUTHOR-NUMBERS    OR    BOOK-MARKS  97 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

Author-numbers,  or  book-marks 

The  books  in  a  given  group  or  class  should  stand 
on  the  shelves  in  the  alphabetical  order  of  their  authors' 
names,  though  this  is  not  necessary  in  a  small  library. 
This  result  is  best  secured  by  adding  to  the  class-mark 
of  every  book  another  mark,  called  an  author-number 
or  book-number  or  book-mark,  made  up  of  the  first 
letter  of  the  author's  name  and  certain  figures.  Books 
bearing  these  author-numbers,  if  arranged  first  alpha- 
betically by  the  letters,  and  then  in  the  numerical  order 
of  the  numbers  following  the  letters,  will  always  stand 
in  the  alphabetical  order  of  the  authors'  names.  Dif- 
ferent books  by  the  same  author  are  distinguished  from 
one  another  by  adding  other  figures  to  the  author- 
number,  or  by  adding  to  the  author-numbers  the  first 
letter  of  the  title  of  each  book. 

These  book-marks  cannot  be  chosen  arbitrarily. 
They  should  be  taken  from  the  printed  set  of  them 
worked  out  by  Mr.  Cutter,  and  called  the  Cutter 
author-tables.  (See  Library  Bureau  catalog.) 

In  a  very  small  library  the  books  in  a  given  class 
can  be  distinguished  one  from  another  by  writing  after 
the  class-number  of  each  book  the  number  of  that 
book  in  its  class.  If  the  class-mark  of  religion,  for 
example,  is  20,  the  books  successively  placed  in  that 
class  will  bear  the  numbers  20.1,  20.2,  20.3,  etc. 

Fiction  should  have  author-numbers  only.  The 
absence  of  a  class-number  will  sufficiently  distinguish 
it  from  other  classes. 


A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

The  shelf-list 

Many  books  can  be  very  properly  put  in  any  one 
of  several  different  classes.  In  which  one  a  given  book 
should  be  placed  will  often  be  decided  by  noting  where 
other  like  books  have  been  placed.  Books  by  authors 
of  the  same  name  will  often  fall  into  the  same  class, 
and  to  each  of  these  a  different  author-number  must 


Shelf  list  sheet.      (Reduced;  actual  size,  10x25  cm.) 

be  given.  You  must  have  at  hand,  then,  a  list  of  the 
books  already  classified,  to  see  at  once,  in  classifying 
the  next  book,  what  kinds  of  books  and  books  by 
what  authors  are  in  each  class.  Every  book  in  the 
library,  as  soon  as  it  has  been  classified,  and  has  received 
its  proper  author-number,  should  be  entered  in  a  list 
in  the  order  first  of  its  class-number,  next  of  its  author- 
number.  This  list  is  called  the  shelf-list.  It  is  often 
kept  on  sheets,  but  it  is  best  kept  on  cards;  a  card  for 
each  different  book.  It  is  a  catalog  of  all  the  books 
in  the  library  arranged  in  the  order  in  which  they  stand 


THE    SHELF-LIST 


99 


on  the  shelves.  It  is  a  subject-index  of  the  library. 
It  is  indispensable  in  the  work  of  properly  placing, 
class-numbering,  and  author-numbering  new  books.  It 
is  a  list  from  which  it  is  very  easy  to  check  over  the 
library  and  learn  what  books  are  missing  or  out  of 
place.  It  includes  usually  only  the  class-  and  author- 
number,  author's  name,  brief  title,  and  accession  num- 
ber. This  last  enables  one  to  refer  at  once  from  the 
brief  entry  of  a  certain  book  in  the  shelf-list  to  the 
full  information  in  the  accession  book.  There  are 


O^ft 

M 

•x"^  1  TV 

o\\ 

a.     __S>-k           Q  »       » 

vi  CTTT^«          C  XTv  A   1  f  TCx,TW  f\ 

c 

^^^.?s 

Shelf-list  card.      (Reduced;  actual  size,  5x1  a J  cm.) 

advantages  in  adding  to  the  shelf-list  record  the  pub- 
lisher and  price.  As  soon  as  a  book  has  received  its 
class-  and  author-numbers,  which  together  are  some- 
times called  the  "call-number,"  as  being  the  mark  to 
be  used  by  the  public  in  calling  for  a  book,  these  num- 
bers, or  combinations  of  numbers  and  letters,  should 
be  written  in  the  accession  book  in  a  column  left  for 
the  purpose,  on  the  line  given  up  to  the  description  of 
the  book  in  hand.  This  enables  one  to  refer  at  once 
from  the  accession  entry  of  a  given  book  to  the  shelf- 
list  entry  of  the  same  book. 


IOO  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Cataloging  books 

After  the  books  are  accessioned,  classified,  author- 
numbered  or  book-marked,  and  shelf-listed,  they 
should  be  cataloged.  A  catalog  is  a  labor-saving  device 
in  library  work.  From  it  both  reader  and  attendant 
can  ascertain  whether  the  library  has  a  certain  book. 
By  consulting  the  catalog  for  the  class-number,  the 
book  may  be  looked  for  in  its  proper  place,  thus  often 
saving  hunting  through  the  shelves  in  several  classes. 

A  printed  list  or  catalog  of  the  library  is  one  of 
the  first  things  that  will  be  asked  for  by  the  public. 
It  is  useful  especially  for  those  who  cannot  well  visit 
the  library.  But  it  is  very  expensive;  it  is  out  of  date 
as  soon  as  issued;  it  cannot  often  be  sold;  it  requires 
training  and  experience  to  make  it  properly,  and  the 
money  it  will  cost  can  be  better  spent  otherwise. 
Do  not  issue  one.  Print  lists  of  additions  in  news- 
papers. Post  them  in  the  library.  Issue  an  occasional 
bulletin  of  the  latest  purchases  if  you  think  it  will  be 
popular.  Put  your  time,  skill,  energy,  and  money  into 
the  making  of  a  full  card  catalog;  keep  this  up  to  date; 
give  the  public  access  to  it;  teach  them  how  to  use  it, 
and  you  will  find  the  printed  catalog  not  needed. 

On  cards  prepared  for  the  purpose  [see  chapter  on 
Things  needed  (9)  and  Library  Bureau  catalog],  a  card 
for  each  book — and  a  book  is  a  book  although  in  sev- 
eral volumes — write  the  author's  surname  (if  the  book 
is  anonymous  write  first  the  title),  given  name  or 


CATALOGING    BOOKS  IOI 

names,  if  known,  title,  date  of  copyright,  date  of  publi- 
cation, call-number,  and  such  other  data  as  seem  desir- 
able. The  price,  for  example,  may  be  put  here,  and 
the  size,  indicating  this  by  a  letter.  [See  Cole  size  card 
in  chapter  on  Things  needed  (9)  and  in  Library  Bureau 
catalog.]  Arrange  these  cards  alphabetically,  by 
authors'  names  for  an  author  catalog.  This  catalog 
will  be  in  constant  use  in  the  purchasing  of  books,  in 
classifying  new  purchases,  etc.  By  the  call-number  one 
can  refer  from  any  entry  in  it  to  the  entry  of  the  same 
book  in  the  shelf-list.  To  make  possible  a  like  refer- 


Author  card.     (Reduced;  actual  size,  7|xiajcm.) 

ence  to  the  accession  book,  write  the  accession  number 
of  each  book  near  the  bottom  of  the  card  on  which 
it  is  entered.  In  making  the  catalog  entries  observe 
certain  fixed  rules  of  alphabetization,  capitalization, 
punctuation,  arrangement,  etc.,  as  set  forth  in  the  cat- 
alog rules  which  may  be  adopted.  Only  by  so  doing 
can  you  secure  uniformity  of  entry,  neatness  in  work, 
and  the  greatest  possible  meaning  from  every  note, 
however  much  abbreviated. 

Preserve  this  catalog  with  great  care.  It  is  the 
key  to  the  records  in  shelf-list  and  accession  book.  In 
a  small  library  the  public  may  very  properly  use  it. 
As  soon  as  possible,  if  your  library  is  to  be  quite  large 
and  much  used,  prepare  for  public  use  a  duplicate  of 


IO2 


A    LT3RARY    PRIMER 


it,  omitting  all  those  entries  in  the  original  which  are 
of  use  only  to  the  librarian. 

The  average  reader  more  often  remembers  the  titles 
of  books  than  their  authors.  Add,  therefore,  to  the 
author-list,  in  your  public  catalog — not  in  your  private 
or  official  catalog,  for  which  author-entries  alone  are 
sufficient — a  title-list;  a  set  of  cards  like  the  author 
cards,  except  that  on  each  one  the  book's  title  is  entered 
first  instead  of  its  author.  Arrange  author  and  title- 
Uses  in  one  alphabetical  series. 


W) 


C/.C. 


Title  card.     (Reduced;  actual  size,  7^x12$  cm.) 

As  the  use  of  the  library  for  reference  work  in- 
creases, the  question  will  often  be  asked,  has  it  any 
books  on  a  certain  subject?  Add,  therefore,  to  your 
author-  and  title-list  a  subject-list.  Make  this  by  writ- 
ing a  card  for  each  book  with  the  subject  of  which  it 
treats  the  first  word  upon  it.  Arrange  this  also  in  the 
same  alphabetical  series  with  the  other  two.  In  some 
cases  the  book's  title  and  its  subject  will  be  identical; 
for  example,  Geology,  by  Tompkins,  or  Washington's 
boyhood,  by  Jones.  For  such  books  one  card  answers 
for  title  and  subject.  For  fiction  no  subject-card  is 
necessary.  On  the  other  hand,  many  books  have  to 
do  with  more  than  one  subject;  a  volume  of  essays, 
for  example,  or  a  group  of  biographical  sketches.  For 
such  it  is  desirable  to  add  to  the  subject-list  by  writing 


CATALOGING    BOOKS 


103 


as  many  cards  for  each  book  as  the  importance  of  t'.e 
several  subjects  therein  and  the  space  the  author  gives 
to  them  seem  to  demand.  Each  card  will  have  for  the 
first  word  of  its  entry  the  subject  to  which  it  refers,  fol- 
lowed by  the  author  and  title  of  the  book. 

Arrange  these  cards  also  alphabetically  with  all  the 
others.  ,  Put  on  every  card  in  the  catalog  the  call- 
number  of  the  book  to  which  it  refers.  This  author- 
title-subject-list,  or  dictionary  catalog,  will  tell  at  a 
glance  if  the  library  has  books  a)  by  a  certain  author; 
b)  with  a  given  title;  c)  on  a  given  subject.  These  are 
the  questions  most  often  asked. 


Subject  card.    (Reduced;  actual  §ixe,  7ixiaJ  cm.) 


There  are  in  print  several  books  giving  rules  for 
cataloging.  Some  of  these  are  mentioned  in  the  chap- 
ter on  Things  needed  (9).  In  a  small  library  it  is  not 
necessary  to  follow  all  the  rules  laid  down  in  these 
books.  It  is  much  better,  however,  to  do  all  the  work, 
even  in  a  very  small  library,  according  to  the  most 
approved  methods.  So  to  do  brings  you  in  touch  with 
your  fellows  and  gives  you  the  comfort  which  comes 
from  the  consciousness  of  work  well  done,  even  if  the 
amount  of  the  work  be  small. 

In  writing  the  subject-headings  difficulties  will  soon 


104  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

arise  unless  you  follow  certain  general  rules  and  are 
careful  also  to  be  consistent  in  your  work.  For  instance, 
at  intervals  during  a  few  months  you  add  to  the  library 
books  on  horses,  cows,  sheep,  goats,  camels,  and  pigs; 
some  dealing  with  one  animal,  some  with  two  or  more. 
If  for  the  first  one  you  write  a  subject-card  with  the 
catch-word  or  entry-word  at  the  top  "  Domestic  ani- 
mals," and  for  the  next  one  "Farm  animals,"  and  for 
the  next  one  "Animals,  domestic,"  you  will  scatter 
the  references  to  domesticated  animals  all  through  your 
catalog,  to  the  despair  of  those  who  would  use  it.  You 
can  guard  against  this,  and  easily,  if  your  catalog  is 
small,  by  looking  to  see  what  you  have  already  written 
every  time  you  write  a  new  subject-entry-word,  and 
by  following  out  a  previously  devised  plan  in  the  mak- 
ing of  your  entries.  The  safest  way  is  to  get  a  printed 
list  of  headings  and  catalog  rules  and  follow  them. 
(See  chapter  on  Things  needed,  9.) 

With  a  printed  list  of  subject-headings  at  hand  it 
is  not  difficult  to  keep  your  catalog  consistent  and 
reasonable. 

This  same  list  of  subject-headings  will  serve  also 
as  a  guide  in  the  writing  of  the  cross-reference  cards 
for  your  catalog,  the  cards,  that  is,  which  refer  the 
searcher  from  the  topic  "pigs,"  for  example,  to  "swine," 
or  from  both  to  "domestic  animals." 

Of  course  the  subject-headings'  list  must  be  sys- 
tematically used,  and  must  be  marked  and  annotated 
to  fit  your  special  needs.  This  work,  like  classifying, 
can  best  be  learned  by  doing. 

There  are  many  ways  of  keeping  your  catalog  cards. 
The  thing  to  use  is  a  set  of  trays  made  for  the  pur- 
pose. (See  Library  Bureau  catalog.)  The  cards  are 


CATALOGING    BOOKS  105 

extremely  valuable,  and  expense  should  not  be  spared 
in  providing  for  their  safe  keeping  and  handy  use. 

The  Library  of  Congress  prints  cards  for  nearly  all 
the  books  a  small  library  buys,  and  sells  them  very 
cheaply.  Before  beginning  your  catalog  write  to  the 
Library  of  Congress  and  ask  about  and  use  them  wher- 
ever possible.  They  will  save  much  labor. 


io6 


A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

Preparing  books  for  the  shelves 

All  books  should  be  marked  with  the  name  of  the 
library.  This  is  cheaply  done  with  a  rubber  stamp 
and  violet  or  red  ink  pad.  An  embossing  stamp  makes 
a  good  and  indelible  mark.  The  type  used  should  be 


Embossing  stamp. 

ot  moderate  size  and  open  faced.  A  perforating  stamp 
now  on  the  market  marks  a  book  neatly  and  most 
permanently.  Mark  books  freely,  to  assure  their  being 
recognized  as  the  library's  property  wherever  seen. 


PREPARING    BOOKS    FOR    THE    SHELVES  107 

Have  some  definite  pages  on  which  stamps  always 
appear.  Many  use  the  title-page,  fifty-first  or  one  hun- 
dred and  first,  and  the  last  page.  This  need  not  inter- 
fere with  marking  elsewhere. 

On  the  back  of  the  book  write  the  call-number.  For 
this  purpose  use  a  tag  or  label.  They  can  be  had  in 
several  sizes;  round  ones  are  best.  Paste  the  label 
where  it  will  mar  the  book  least,  as  near  the  middle 
2s  possible.  It  is  well  to  put  all  labels  at  the  same 
height  from  the  bottom  of  the  back,  so  far  as  this  can 
be  done  without  covering  essential  parts  of  the  letter- 
ing. Four  inches  is  a  good  height  for  the  lower  edge 
of  all  labels.  The  place  where  the  labels  are  to  be 
pasted  should  be  moistened  with  a  solution  of  ammonia 
and  water,  to  remove  varnish  or  grease.  If  this  is 
done  the  mucilage  or  gum  on  the  labels  when  pur- 
chased will  be  found  usually  to  stick  well.  After  the 
call-number  is  written,  varnish  the  label  with  a  thin 
solution  of  shellac  in  alcohol.  Labels  put  on  in  this  way 
will  keep  clean,  remain  legible,  and  rarely  come  off. 

If  a  charging  system  using  a  pocket  is  adopted,  no 
book-plate  is  needed,  if  the  pocket,  that  is,  is  pasted 
on  the  inside  of  the  front  cover  and  has  the  name  of 
the  library  on  it. 

When  books  are  classified  the  call-number  is  written 
with  hard  pencil  on  a  certain  page,  the  same  page  in 
all  books;  a  common  place  is  the  first  right-hand  page 
after  the  title-page,  near  the  inner  margin  or  at  the 
top  of  the  page. 

This  call-number  should  be  written  with  ink  on  the 
pocket  and  book  slip,  which  is  kept  in  the  pocket.  It 
is  advisable  also  to  write  the  call-number  in  ink  on 
some  definite  page  bearing  the  library's  stamp. 


IO8  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

If  a  book-plate  is  adopted  let  it  be  small  and  simple. 
Have  a  special  plate  for  gifts,  with  space  on  it  for 
writing  the  name  of  the  giver. 

Books  wear  better  if  they  are  carefully  opened  in 
a  number  of  places  before  they  are  placed  on  the 
shelves.  This  makes  the  backs  flexible  and  less  likely 
to  break  with  rough  handling.  In  cutting  the  leaves 
be  sure  that  the  paper  knife  does  its  work  to  the  very 
back  edge  of  the  top  folds,  that  it  is  never  sharp  enough 
to  cut  down  into  the  leaves,  and  that  it  is  held  nearly 
parallel  to  the  fold  to  be  cut. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  things  to  be  done  before 
books  are  ready  for  use  in  a  public  library: 

1  Book  notices  and  reviews  are  read  and  the  library's 
needs  and  funds  considered. 

2  Order  slips  are  made  out,  arranged  alphabetically, 
and  compared  with  the  catalog  to  see  if  the  books  listed 
on  them  are  already  in  the  library. 

3  Order   list   is   made   out,   approved,   and   sent   to 
dealer. 

4  Books   arrive   and   are   checked  by  the  bill,   and 
brief  notes  of  date  of  purchase,  initials  of  dealer,  and 
price  are  written  on  the  left  margin  of  the  second  page 
after  the  title-page. 

5  Bill  is  checked  for  items  and  prices  by  order  slips. 

6  Gifts    when    received    are    a)    properly    acknowl- 
edged; b)  entered  in  gift  book  or  on  cards;  c)  marked 
with  small  gift-book  plates  pasted  inside  the  front  cover. 

7  Books    are   looked    over    (if   you    wish),    collated, 
especially  the  expensive  ones,  to  see  if  complete  and 
sound. 

8  Books  are  entered  in  the  accession  book  or  acces- 
sioned with  the  Bates  numbering  machine. 


PREPARING    BOOKS    FOR    THE    SHELVES  109 

9  Books  are  opened  to  loosen  binding,   and  pages 
cut,  if  necessary. 

10  Books  are  stamped  with  library  stamp. 

1 1  The    book-plates    are    pasted    inside    the    front 
<-r — if  book-plates  are  used. 

12  Pockets  are  pasted  on  the  inside  of  front  cover 
or  wherever  the  system  adopted  places  them. 

13  Labels  are  put  on  the  backs. 

14  Books  ;  itied,  author-numbered  and  call- 
numbered. 

15  Books  are  entered  on  shelf-list. 

1 6  Catalog    cards    are    written — author,    title,    an  1 
subject. 

17  Bulletin   lists   of  the   books   are   made   out   for 
posting  up  and  for  newspapers. 

1 8  Call-numbers  are  written  on  the  book  slips,  the 
pockets,  and  the  labels. 

19  Labels  are  varnished. 

20  The  call-number  of  each  book  is  entered  in  the 
proper  place  on  the  line  which  that  book  occupies  in 
the  accession  book,  if  the  accession  book  is  used. 

21  Books   are   placed    on    the   library   shelves    for 
public  use. 

22  Catalog   cards,    author,    title,    and    subject,    are 
arranged  alphabetically  in  one  series  and  distribute! 
in  catalog. 


HO  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
Binding  and  Mending 

[From    Notes  on  Binding  for  Libraries,  by  J.  C.  Dana.  Library  Bureau.  $i. 
Revised,  1909-] 

No  librarian  should  try  to  bind  or  to  conduct  per- 
sonally his  own  bindery.  Binding  is  a  special  trade, 
and  skill  and  speed  in  it  come  only  by  long  practice. 
The  librarian  cannot  become  a  skilled  binder.  He 
should  become  familiar  with  the  results  of  the  binding 
he  gets  by  a  study  of  his  books.  If  he  finds  they  do 
not  wear  well,  but  rot,  break  or  show  loose  pages,  let 
him  keep  a  few  statistics,  and  if  he  learns  he  is  wast- 
ing money  on  cheap  work  or  poor  material,  let  him 
change  his  material  and  his  processes,  and  perhaps 
his  binder. 

To  get  good  binding,  go  to  a  good  binder;  to  learn 
about  the  binding  craft,  practice  it  and  read  Cockerell; 
to  discover  if  your  binding  is  good,  watch  it  and  gather 
statistics  of  its  wear. 

In  bindings  and  rebindings  one  of  the  most  essential 
things  to  be  secured  is  ease  of  opening.  A  book  that 
opens  out  easily,  and  lies  fiat  without  being  pressed 
or  held  in  position,  will  probably  keep  clean  and  whole 
for  more  than  twice  as  many  lendings  as  one  that  is 
held  together  tightly  at  the  back.  As  a  great  many 
of  the  library  books  which  call  for  rebindings  have  to 
be  trimmed  at  the  back  and  overcast,  it  is  essential 
that  the  overcast  sewing  be  of  a  flexible  nature,  one 
that  permits  of  the  easy  opening  of  the  book.  Prob- 
ably few  of  the  factors  in  book  construction  and  book 


BINDING    AND    MENDING  III 

injury  have  been  more  effective  than  the  tight  binding, 
held  open  with  difficulty,  which  is  produced  by  poor 
overcasting  or  whipstitching. 

Another  point  that  cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted 
on  is  that  books  not  only  differ  from  one  another  in 
their  natures  and  so  require  different  treatment  in 
binding;  but  also  differ  in  the  use  they  are  to  receive, 
and  require  different  bindings  on  that  account. 

The  thorough  binder,  the  skilled  craftsman,  adapts 
his  binding  to  the  books  and  to  the  use,  as  far  as  he 
can  judge  of  it,  which  they  are  to  receive.  He  binds 
each  book  so  well  that  it  will  hold  together  to  the 
end  of  time;  or  until  its  paper  fairly  drops  to  pieces. 

A  book  well  bound,  opening  easily,  and  lying  open 
without  pressure  from  fingers  or  thumbs,  keeps  clean 
many  times  longer  than  one  that  opens  hard. 

The  best  is  the  cheapest.  If  a  book  is  worth  bind- 
ing let  it  be  bound  by  the  best  man  available.  If 
possible,  buy  books  so  well  bound  from  the  publishers' 
sheets,  that  they  will  never  need  to  be  bound  again. 

Set  rules  for  sewing  books  should  not  be  laid  down. 
Each  book  is  treated  by  the  skillful  binder  in  accord- 
ance with  the  character  of  its  paper,  the  number  of 
inserts,  the  thickness  of  paper,  the  size  of  the  signa- 
tures, the  size  of  the  leaves,  the  use  it  is  to  receive, 
and  other  facts. 

After  satisfactory  materials  and  methods  of  binding 
for  a  library  have  been  discovered  and  adopted,  there 
still  remain  many  questions  which  can  be  well  answered 
only  by  one  having  a  wide  knowledge  of  books.  Nor 
is  a  general  knowledge  of  books  alone  enough  to  qualify 
one  to  answer  wisely  these  questions.  Close  acquaint- 
ance with  the  library's  policy  in  regard  to  book-saving 


112  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

and  book-buying  and  of  its  attitude  toward  the  demand 
for  popular  and  ephemeral  fiction;  knowledge  of  its 
reference  work;  of  the  amount  of  handling  its  books 
receive  by  the  public,  and  of  its  financial  condition 
and  policy — all  this  and  much  besides  the  person  in 
charge  of  binding  should  have  before  she  can  make 
wise  decisions.  And  particularly  she  needs  knowledge 
of  paper,  editions,  prices  and  similar  matters. 

Thin,  imported,  acid-free  pigskin,  first  used  in  this 
country  by  Mr.  Olivers,  is  the  best  material  for  backs. 
It  wears  well;  does  not  rot;  is  easily  manipulated  and 
takes  gold  lettering  well. 

Morocco,  if  tanned  so  that  it  win  not  rot,  is  more 
expensive  than  pigskin.  For  the  finer  books  it  is  better 
than  pigskin  as  it  preserves  better  its  appearance  under 
much  handling. 

Cowskin  is  good  for  books  which  are  to  be  much 
handled  and  are  likely  to  be  worn  out  and  discarded 
within  five  years.  Only  the  best  quality  should  be 
used.  Dark  red  is  usually  preferable  to  light  red  or 
brown.  It  costs  less  than  pigskin. 

English  Imperial  Morocco  cloth  makes  a  good  lull 
binding  for  books  that  are  not  to  receive  much  wear. 
It  cannot  be  lettered  easily,  and  if  much  handled  soon 
looks  dingy  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  back  and 
along  the  joint  and  at  the  corners. 

The  cloth  made  by  the  HolKston  Mitts,  Norwood, 
Mass.,  and  recommended  by  U.  S.  Government  experts, 
is  best  for  all  books  not  bound  in  leather. 

Large  volumes  Eke  periodicals  and  society  proceed- 
ings should  have  Holliston  cloth  backs  and  sides  of 
art  canvas  or  morocco  cloth. 

Newspapers   should   also   have   backs   of   Holliston 


BINDING    AND    MENDING  113 

cloth.  The  sides  may  be  covered  with  paper,  but  art 
canvas  or  art  vellum  is  better. 

If  newspapers  are  to  be  consulted  often  they  should 
be  carefully  bound  of  course.  But  in  a  great  many 
libraries  it  is  wise  to  tie  most  newspapers  up  in  flat 
packages  instead  of  binding  them. 

For  the  sides  of  books  with  pigskin  or  morocco 
backs  which  are  to  be  much  handled,  nothing  is  better 
than  the  imitation  leather  called  keratol,  made  in 
Newark,  N.  J. 

THE    BINDING    RECORD 

Rules  followed  in  the  Newark  Library  in  sending 
books  to  a  bindery  are  these: 

Remove  book  slip,  stamp  it  with  the  word  Bindery 
and  the  date,  and  then  file  it  with  other  similar  slips, 
all  being  kept  in  groups  in  accordance  with  the  kinds 
of  binding  the  books  are  to  receive.  The  slips  for  the 
books  sent  each  month  also  put  together. 

On  the  title  page  of  the  book  underline  with  light 
pencil  marks  such  words  as  are  to  be  gilded  on  the  back. 
Make  the  title  for  the  back  as  short  as  it  can  be  made 
without  loss  of  identity. 

Send  most  books  in  groups  with  a  general  note  of 
instruction  as  to  the  binding  of  the  whole  group.  For 
example,  a  hundred  books  may  be  sent  in  one  lot  with 
a  note  saying,  "Bind  in  pigskin  in  the  usual  style." 

When  special  bindings  are  required,  which  call  for 
special  instruction,  tip  slightly  in  the  front  of  the  book, 
usually  on  the  title  page,  a  slip  of  yellow  paper,  3x5 
inches.  On  this  slip  write  the  call  number  of  the  book, 
the  special  style  of  binding  wanted  and  other  remarks 
when  needed. 


114  A    LTBRARY    PRIMER 

When  books  come  back  from  the  bindery  stamp  the 
date  of  their  return  on  the  lower  left  corner  of  the  back 
cover  immediately  on  their  receipt.  Add  to  this  date 
the  name  of  the  binder  if  the  library  employs  more 
than  one  firm. 

This  date  makes  it  possible  to  tell  how  bindings  wear. 

Note  the  style  of  binding  of  each  book  and  look  for 
its  book  slip  among  the  other  slips  for  books  of  this  style. 

Examine  the  lettering  and  the  numbers  on  the  back 
to  see  if  they  are  correct,  comparing  them  with  the 
title  page.  Examine  also  the  binding  throughout. 

If  all  is  satisfactory,  put  pockets  and  book  plates 
in  all  the  books  which  require  them. 

Mark  the  pockets.  Open  each  book  carefully  and 
thoroughly  that  the  back  may  be  loosened  and  made 
more  flexible. 

All  repairing  of  books  should  be  done  by  skilled 
persons.  The  question  of  whether  or  not  repairs  shall 
be  made  at  all  should  be  decided  by  a  person  who  has 
not  only  technical  skill  in  repairing,  but  also  knowl- 
edge of  the  use  to  which  the  book  in  hand  is  likely  to 
be  subjected.  This,  because  in  many  cases  it  will  be 
evident  to  a  person  who  knows  about  the  use  the  books 
are  to  have  that  certain  of  them  should  not  be  repaired 
at  all,  no  matter  if  in  quite  a  dilapidated  condition, 
with  loose  covers  and  loose  leaves;  but  should  be  neatly 
wrapped  in  good  manila  paper,  labeled  plainly  on  the 
back  and  set  again  on  the  shelf.  The  few  times  in  a 
year  when  little-used  books  are  wanted  do  not,  in  many 
cases,  warrant  their  rebinding.  Repairs  on  them  no 
matter  how  well  done,  are  likely  to  injure  them.  Books 
which  are  rarely  borrowed,  even  though  they  are  used 
occasionally,  or  are  even  a  good  deal  handled  because 


BINDING    AND    MENDING  115 

they  stand  near  books  which  are  much  used,  should 
perhaps  be  mended  a  little;  loose  leaves  should  be 
tipped  in,  at  least.  But  work  on  them  beyond  that 
is  often  injurious. 

The  feeling  that  all  books  in  a  library  should  be 
neatly  bound  has  caused  much  unnecessary  expense. 

Mend  ordinary  books  very  little;  rebind  them  early; 
watch  results;  tabulate  them,  and  make  use  of 
experience. 


n6 


A    I  IBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

Pamphlets 

Save  all  pamphlets  having  to  do  with  local  his- 
tory, and  save  also  those  of  a  general  nature  which 
promise  ever  to  be  of  any  importance.  In  a  small 


L.  B.  pamphlet  case.      (Various  sizes.) 

library,  however,  or  in  any  library  in  which  money  for 
salaries  is  limited,  and  the  work  to  be  done  in  the 
regular  matter  of  attending  to  the  public,  lending 
books,  etc.,  is  great,  do  not  waste  time  in  trying  to 


PAMPHLETS  Iiy 

arrange  or  catalog  pamphlets.  Simply  let  them  accu- 
mulate, arranging  them  roughly  in  classes.  Bind  at 
once  only  those  that  seem  absolutely  to  demand  it. 
In  the  history  of  almost  any  library  the  time  will  come 
when  it  will  be  possible  to  sort  out  pamphlets,  arrange 
them  properly,  catalog  such  as  are  worth  it,  bind  them 
singly  or  in  groups,  and  incorporate  them  into  the 
library.  But  any  system  of  arranging  and  sorting 
pamphlets  which  does  anything  more  than  very  roughly 
to  arrange  and  store  them,  and  attempts  to  make  them, 
without  much  labor,  accessible  to  the  general  public, 
is  almost  sure  to  be  a  failure.  This  is  not  true  of  pam- 
phlets to  which  the  public  has  not  access.  But  pam- 
phlets not  fully  cataloged  and  not  accessible  to  the 
public  are,  no  matter  how  scientifically  arranged,  almost 
useless  plunder.  To  keep  them  clean  and  in  order 
nothing  is  as  good  as  a  pamphlet  case,  which  any  box- 
maker  can  make,  of  cardboard  about  9  inches  high,  7 
inches  deep,  and  2  inches  thick,  open  at  the  back.  They 
will  cost  from  4  to  12  cents  each,  according  to  quality 
of  board  used  and  quantity  ordered.  For  holding  a 
few  pamphlets  together  temporarily  Ballard's  "klips" 
are  best.  Sold  by  H.  H.  Ballard,  Pittsfield,  Mass. 


Il8  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
Public  documents 

Adelaide  R.  Hasse,  of  the  New  York  Public  library 
How  issued 

Government  documents  are  issued  in  two  sets  or 
editions,  viz.:  the  Congressional,  formerly  called  the 
sheep,  and  the  Departmental  or  cloth.  The  annual 
reports  of  the  heads  of  departments,  with  many  of  the 
serial  and  occasional  publications  of  the  various  depart- 
ments, are  contained  in  the  Congressional  set,  and  in 
addition,  all  the  reports  of  committees,  and  records  of 
the  transactions  of  congress,  except  the  debates  which 
are  contained  in  the  Congressional  record.  The  cloth 
set  contains  all  the  publications  of  the  several  depart- 
ments, irrespective  of  the  fact  that  some  of  them  may 
have  appeared  in  the  Congressional  set. 

To  whom  issued 

The  depository  libraries  receive  the  Congressional 
set  by  law  from  the  superintendent  of  documents. 
Since  January  15,  1908,  they  also  receive  in  unbound 
form  as  soon  as  issued  all  Congressional  documents  and 
reports  other  than  the  annuals  and  serials.  Each  depart- 
ment has  its  own  list  of  "exchanges"  (i.e.,  designa- 
tions) which  receive  gratis  the  publications  of  that 
department  intended  for  general  distribution.  Non- 
depository  libraries  receive  their  documents  regularly 
from  the  departments  when  on  the  department  exchange 
list,  or  irregularly  from  their  representatives  in  congress. 
"Remainder"  or  "Miscellaneous"  libraries  receive  from 


PUBLIC    DOCUMENTS  1 19 

the  superintendent  of  documents  such  documents  as  can 
be  supplied  from  the  fractional  quotas  sent  to  him 
after  the  editions  ordered  for  the  use  of  congress  have 
been  equally  divided  among  the  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives. 

"Geological  depository  libraries"  are  those  libraries 
specially  designated  by  members  of  congress  to  receive 
the  publications  of  the  geological  survey. 

Many  thousands  of  books  have  been  sent  on  special 
application  to  libraries  not  on  the  list. 

All  the  departments  still  control  the  distribution  of 
their  own  publications,  the  superintendent  of  docu- 
ments only  distributing  the  Congressional  set,  and  such 
of  the  department  publications  as  have  been  turned 
over  to  him  by  the  departments  for  this  purpose,  or 
of  which  there  have  been  remainders.  Sometimes  the 
number  of  copies  of  its  own  publications  allotted  to 
the  department  is  very  small  and  soon  exhausted. 

Librarians  and  others  who  want  full  information 
about  the  distribution,  present  methods  of  issue,  etc., 
of  public  documents,  should  inquire  of  the  superin- 
tendent of  documents.  He  compiles  and  publishes, 
monthly,  annually,  and  biennially,  complete  catalogs 
ami  indexes  of  public  documents.  These  are  not  for 
general  distribution,  but  may  be  consulted  at  designated 
depository  libraries. 

Care  in  a  library 

The  question  of  the  most  economical,  and  at  the 
same  time  satisfactory  manner  of  caring  for  documents 
must  be  settled  by  each  library  for  itself,  since  it  rests 
chiefly  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  library  can  afford 
duplication. 


120  A    LTBRARY    PRIMER 

Depository  libraries  have  better  opportunities  than 
others  for  filling  up  the  Congressional  set,  and  having 
this  set  they  have  the  greater  portion  of  those  docu- 
ments useful  to  the  average  library.  A  complete  sheep 
set  from  the  i5th  Congress  to  the  close  of  the  53d 
Congress  numbers  slightly  over  3343 v.,  and  will  require 
860  feet  of  shelving,  or  six  modern  iron  book  stacks. 

Though  it  is  done  in  a  few  cases,  the  subject  classi- 
fication of  the  sheep  set  is  not  to  be  recommended. 
Where  subject  classification,  or  the  incorporation  of 
the  documents  in  the  general  library,  is  desired,  the 
cloth  set  is  preferable,  and  is  in  most  cases  procurable. 
If  a  library  can  afford  shelf  room  for  both,  it  will  be 
found  more  satisfactory  to  keep  the  sheep  set  intact, 
and  to  make  a  selection  of  such  reports  from  the  cloth 
set  as  will  be  locally  useful  to  the  library. 

No  small  library  should  undertake  to  acquire  any 
documents  but  those  for  which  it  has  an  actual  use; 
only  the  largest  libraries  can  afford  the  task  of  filling 
up  sets  of  documents  simply  for  the  sake  of  having 
a  complete  record. 

Small  libraries,  and  all  libraries  in  need  of  any 
special  report  or  document,  can  get  it,  in  most  cases, 
by  applying  to  the  superintendent  of  documents.  Return 
all  your  duplicates  to  the  superintendent  of  documents ; 
arrangements  for  their  transportation  will  be  made  by 
him  upon  notification,  and  anything  he  has  that  is 
needed  will  be  sent  in  exchange. 

Do  not  try  to  collect  a  complete  set  of  government 
documents;  the  government  of  the  United  States  has 
not  yet  been  able  to  do  that. 


CHECKING    THE    LIBRARY  121 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Checking  the  library 

Check  the  library  over  occasionally.  It  need  not 
be  done  every  year.  It  is  an  expensive  thing  to  do, 
in  time,  and  is  not  of  great  value  when  done;  but  now 
and  then  it  must  be  gone  through  with.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  close  the  library  for  this  purpose.  Take 
one  department  at  a  time  and  check  it  by  the  shelf- 
list.  Make  a  careful  list  of  all  books  missing.  Check 
this  list  by  the  charging  slips  at  the  counter.  For  those 
still  missing  make  a  general  but  hasty  search  through 
the  library.  Go  over  each  part  of  the  library  in  this 
way.  Then  compile  all  lists  of  missing  books  into  one 
list,  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  call-numbers.  Once 
or  twice  a  week  for  several  months  go  over  the  library 
with  this  list,  looking  for  missing  books.  Even  with 
access  to  the  shelves,  and  with  great  freedom  in  matters 
of  circulation,  not  many  books  will  be  found  missing, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  at  the  end  of  a  six 
months'  search.  Such  books  as  are  still  missing  at 
the  end  of  any  given  period,  together  with  those  that 
have  been  discarded  as  worn  out,  and  those  that  have 
been  lost  by  borrowers,  should  be  properly  marked  on 
the  shelf-list,  and  should  have  an  entry  in  the  accession 
book,  stating  what  has  become  of  them.  If  they  are 
not  replaced,  it  will  be  advisable  to  withdraw  the 
cards  representing  them  from  the  card  catalog,  or  to 
write  on  the  cards  the  fact  of  withdrawal  and  the  cause. 

Keep  a  record  of  all  books  withdrawn  from  the 
library  for  whatever  reason, 


122  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

Lists,  bulletins,  printed  catalog 

Give  the  public  access  to  the  card  catalog  if  possible. 
If  a  dictionary  catalog  is  made  it  will  prove  to  be  most 
helpful  to  the  serious  students.  For  the  average  reader, 
the  person  who  wishes  to  get  a  recent  book,  the  latest 
novel,  etc.,  prepare  lists  of  additions  from  month  to 
month,  post  them  up  in  some  convenient  place  in  the 
library,  and  put  them  in  a  binder  to  be  left  on  desk 
or  table  in  the  delivery  room. 

Print  lists  of  additions,  if  possible,  in  the  local  papers; 
also  publish  reference  lists  having  to  do  with  current 
events  and  matters  of  popular  interest.  Oftentimes 
the  newspapers  will  furnish,  for  a  small  sum,  extra 
copies  of  the  lists  which  they  have  printed.  If  the 
means  warrant  the  expenditure,  a  periodical  bulletin, 
appearing  once  a  month,  or  even  oftener,  containing 
information  about  the  library,  notes  on  recent  addi- 
tions, suggestions  as  to  the  use  of  books,  lists  on  special 
subjects,  and  lists  of  books  lately  added  may  prove 
useful.  Such  a  bulletin  can  often  be  maintained  with- 
out cost  to  the  library  by  having  it  published  by  some 
one  who  will  pay  its  expenses  by  means  of  advertise- 
ments. The  very  best  way  of  bringing  new  books  to 
the  attention  of  readers  is  to  print  a  list  of  additions, 
with  call-numbers,  as  condensed  as  possible,  and  with 
no  other  matter,  for  free  distribution  in  the  library. 

In  printing  lists  of  books,  make  the  classes  covered 
special,  not  general.  Give  lists  suitable  for  as  many 


LISTS,    BULLETINS,    PRINTED    CATALOG  123 

different  needs  and  occasions  as  possible.  There  can't 
be  too  many  of  them.  For  instance,  a  teacher  would 
find  thoroughly  helpful  and  practicable  such  classified 
lists  of  books  as,  for  beginners  in  third  and  fourth 
grades,  for  the  intermediate  pupils,  for  boys,  for  girls, 
numerous  references  to  the  current  events  of  the  day; 
historical  readings  divided  into  periods  and  adapted  to 
different  grades;  historical  fiction  under  several  forms 
of  classification;  biographies  and  biographical  sketches 
suited  to  different  ages;  geographical  aids,  including 
travel,  description,  life,  scenes,  and  customs  in  different 
countries;  natural  history  and  elementary  science;  the 
resources  of  the  library  available  for  the  purpose  of 
illustrating  topics  in  history,  art,  and  science;  material 
for  theme  studies;  special  lists  for  anniversary  days 
now  so  generally  observed  in  schools,  and  so  on. 

Lists  in  which  the  titles  of  the  books  come  first 
are  better  liked  by  the  general  public  than  are  author- 
lists.  People  commonly  know  books  by  name,  not 
by  author. 

Don't  make  the  mistake  of  spending  much  money, 
at  the  library's  beginning,  for  a  printed  catalog.  A 
printed  catalog,  as  stated  in  chapter  25,  is  not  a  neces- 
sity. It  is  useful,  particularly  for  home  use,  to  tell 
whether  the  library  owns  certain  books;  but  with  a 
good  card  catalog,  newspaper  lists,  special  lists,  and 
the  like,  it  is  not  a  necessity.  Few  large  libraries  now 
publish  complete  catalogs. 


124 


A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXXII    . 

Charging  system 

On  the  inside  of  the  front  cover  of  every  book  in 
the  library  paste  a  manila  pocket.  (See  Library 
Bureau  catalog.)  Or  paste,  by  the  bottom  and  the 
upper  corners,  thus  making  a  pocket  of  it,  a  sheet  of 

plain,  stout  paper  at 
the  bottom  of  the  first 
page  of  the  first  flyleaf. 
On  this  pocket,  at  the 
top,  write  the  call- 
number  of  the  book. 
Below  this  print  infor- 
mation for  borrowers, 
if  this  seems  necessary. 
In  this  pocket  place 
a  book-card  of  heavy 
ledger  paper  or  light 
cardboard.  On  this 
book-card,  at  the  top, 
write  the  call-number  of 
the  book  in  the  pocket 
of  which  it  is  placed. 

To  every  borrower 
the  library  issues  a  bor- 
rower's card.  This  card 
is  made  of  heavy,  col- 
ored tag-board,  and 
contains  the  borrower's 


EXTRACT  FROM  CITY  ORDINANCE. 

SEC.  i.  —  Any  perwn  who  ahaO  willfully  or 
maliciouly  cut,  wn.e  upon,  injure,  deUce, 
destroy  aay  Book,  Newspaper, 
Pictmrt,   Er.fr»ring,  or  Statac 
^bdonginr;   to   the    Chicago    Public 
Library,  .ball  be  liable  I*  a  fine 
tot  k«  than  fire  dollar*,  nor 
tort  then  fif t jr  dollar*  (or  mrj 
luch  offenie. 


EXTRACT  FROM  RULES. 

i7.-Book»  mar  b«  n- 
tuatt  two  weeks,  and  may 
b*  onc«  renewed  (or  tb« 
•  ame  p-nr-d. 

30  —A  fine  of  three  cent* 
a  day  shall  be  paid  on  each 
w»rk,  whether  bound  in  one 
or  more  vohrwej,  »>tch  •  not 
remrr.ea  »*»rd;n»    »  ,1*  pro- 
OIM  of  the  preceding  n]«! 
ao.other  book      I :   bt  deli*. 
•  the  part/    - '.  .r     ~  the  frr, 
lit  it  U  paid.  •  •  • 


RKCEIVSD. 


Acme  Library  Card  T'ooket. 
Under  Pat.  Stpt.  H.--76.  "Rtf.  lnd»  Fil*.' 

iidtky  LIBRARY    BUREAU, 

125FRAXKLIX    ST.,  OUCACO. 


Keep  you  Card  ID  tMs  PocieL 


Card-pocket. 
(Reduced;   actual  size,  7x13^  cm.) 


CHARGING    SYSTEM 


125 


borrower's    card    he 
in   the   book   pocket, 


MO 


9 


name  and  address,  and  his  number  in  the  series  of  bor- 
rowers' numbers. 

The  librarian,  before  de- 
livering a  book  to  a  bor- 
rower, takes  from  the  pocket 
the  book-card,  writes  on  it 
the  number  found  at  the  top 
of  the  borrower's  card,  and 
after  it,  with  a  dater,  stamps 
the  day  of  the  month.  At 
the  same  time  he  stamps  the 
same  date  on  the  borrower's 
card,  and  on  the  pocket  in 
the  book  or  on  a  dating  slip 
pasted  in  the  book  opposite 
the  pocket. 

The 
places 

the  book-card  he  retains  as 
a  record  of  the  loan,  and  the  borrower  takes  the  book 
away.    The  book-card,  with  all  others  representing  the 

books  issued  on 
the  same  day, 
he  places  in  a 
tray  behind  a 
card  bearing 
the  date  of  the 
day  of  issue. 
All  the  book- 
cards  represent- 

Tray  for  book-cards.  'ng  ^ooks  issued 

on  a  certain   day  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  their 
call-numbers. 


Book  card. 
(Reduced ; actual  size,  1 2  Jx;  J  cm.) 


126  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Under  this  system  the  borrower  can  tell,  by  look- 
ing at  his  card,  on  what  date  the  book  he  has  was 
taken  from  the  library.  If  he  wishes  to  renew  it  with- 
out taking  it  back  to  the  library,  he  can  do  so  by  a 
letter  stating  that  he  took  on  a  certain  day  a  book 
bearing  a  certain  number,  and  wishes  it  renewed. 

The  librarian  can  tell,  from  the  book-cards,  what 
books  are  in  circulation,  and  how  many  of  each  class 
were  lent  on  a  certain  day. 


City  Library  Association. 


Springfield,  Mass. 
The  book  noted   below  is  now  in  the  library  and  will  be 
reserved  for  you  until  9  p.  M.,_3xtr*...JL5..  _ 

Please  present  this  notice  and  your  library  card.     A  charge 
of  two  cents  is  made  for  this  notice. 

JOHN  COTTON  DANA,  Librarian. 


Book 

Title,  etc.  ..CLjML  -RcrmOL. 


No.  i.     Postal  notice.     (Reduced.) 

The  borrower's  number,  written  on  the  book-card 
of  any  given  book  in  circulation,  will  give,  through  the 
register  of  borrowers,  the  name  and  address  of  the 
person  having  that  book.  Overdue  books  aie  auto- 
matically indicated,  their  cards  remaining  in  the  tray, 
behind  the  card  indicating  the  date  they  were  lent, 
after  the  day  for  their  return  has  passed. 

When  a  borrower  returns  a  book  the  librarian  can 
learn,  from  the  date  on  the  pocket,  whether  or  no  a 


CHARGING    SYSTEM  127 

fine  should  be  paid  on  it;  if  not,  he  can  immediately 
take  out  the  borrower's  card  from  the  book  pocket, 


G_£o.   BAcrum, Jia  8-Q. 

Bendence,        7  2 


Employment, 

Employer,  S  VYVAJt?V 

Plica  of  bonoM,     8  5 


No.  a.     Registration  card.  face.     (Reduced;  actual  size,  7^x12$  cm.) 

stamp  the  date  of  its  return  at  the  right  of  the  date 
on  which  it  was  lent,  thus  canceling  the  charge  against 


I  hereby  declare  that  I  am  a  mMcnt  of  the  City  of  Springfield,  and  in 
of  the  right  to  tue  the  Free  City  Library.  agree  to  comply  with 
provided  for  iu  goTcromeoL 


I  hereby  certify  that  the  abort  subscriber  Is  »  fit  penoo  to  enjoy  the 
pririlege*  of  the  City  Library,  and  that  I  will  be  reaponrible  for  any  low  or  hv 
jury  the  Library  may  sustain  from  the  pcrmia«ion  gireo  to  draw  book*  In  COB- 
•equence  of  thi>  certificate. 


(in  ink) 
at  Ho.     . 


No.  3.     Registration  card,  reverse.    (Reduced;  actual  size,  ?}xi 2$  cm.) 

the  borrower,  and  lay  the  book  aside  and  look  up  its 
book-card  later. 


128  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Double  and  special  borrowers'  cards  are  not  needed 
under  this  system.  It  fits  easily  a  "two-book"  or  a 
ten-book  system.  On  the  book-cards  belonging  to  the 
second  book,  and  all  other  books  after  the  first,  which 
any  borrower  may  take,  the  librarian  writes  the  bor- 
rower's number  preceded  by  any  letter  or  sign  which 
will  serve  to  indicate  that  these  books  are  charged, 


The  City  Library  Association,  Springfield,  Hass. 

LITERATURE:     ART:     SCIENCE. 

The  Library:     Circulating  Department. 


The  rules  of  the  library  require  all  books  to  be  returned  in 

two  weeks.     Book   No.jCRjbJ£"7jJ!L stands  charged  to  >ou 

(Card  No._L9._QJbL_)  as  taken  from  the  library...^  b.,..^L...'.9  3. 
You  are  incqrring  a  fine  of  two  cents  for  every  day's  detention. 
If  you  think  a  mistake  has  been  made,  please  notify  us. 
A  charge  of  two  cents  is  made  for  sending  this  notice. 

The  City  Library. 


No  67    ii-oS-i 


Present  this  notice  with  your  library  card. 


No.  4.      Overdue  notice.      (Postal  card,  reduced.) 

not  on  the  borrower's  card,  but  to  the  borrower  direct, 
on  the  strength  of  a  general  permission  to  him  to  take 
more  than  one  book. 

The  postal  notice  no.  i,  the  registration  cards  2 
and  3,  the  notice  that  the  book  is  overdue,  no.  4,  the 
fine  slip,  no.  5,  all  explain  themselves. 

In  most  places,  certainly  in  all  small  towns,  a  suffi- 
cient safeguard  against  the  loss  of  books  is  found  in 
the  signature  of  the  borrower  himself.  No  guarantee 
need  be  called  for.  To  ask  for  a  guarantor  for  a  rep- 
utable resident  is  simply  to  discommode  two  people 
instead  of  one.  The  application  which  the  borrower 


CHARGING    SYSTEM 


I2Q 


signs  should  be  brief  and  plain.    Name,  lesidence,  place 
of  business,   and  any  necessary  references,   should  be 

written  in  by  the  librarian  on 
one  side;  the  signature  to  an 
agreement  to  obey  the  library 
rules  can  be  written  by  the 
applicant  on  the  other.  All 
borrowers'  agreements  should 
be  filed  in  alphabetical  order. 
They  should  receive  borrow- 
ers' numbers  in  the  order  of 
their  issue,  and  the  date. 
The  borrowers'  cards  should 
state  that  they  expire  in  a 
definite  number  of  years  from 
the  date  of  issue,  and  the  date 
of  issue  should  be  stamped 
on  them.  An  index  of  bor- 
cm  >  rowers»  agreements  should  be 
kept  by  their  numbers.  This  need  contain  only  the 
borrower's  number,  his  name,  and,  when  necessary, 
his  address.  It  is  conveniently  kept  in  a  book.  It  is 
better  to  keep  it  on  cards. 

Some  libraries  now  lend  all  books  except  the  latest 
novels  for  one  month  without  renewal,  and  find  the 
method  gives  great  satisfaction. 


Th.   City  LOtrtry  AjMCIMton. 

Spri*(<KU.  Mu>. 

r,_^H.-.    FU1* 

z 

. 

/ 

b 

to 

2 

Z 

8 

2 

b 

No.  5.     Fine  slip. 
( Reduced ;  actual  size  iaj: 


130  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

Meeting  the  public 

If  the  public  is  not  admitted  to  the  shelves,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  supply  catalogs  for  public  use  as  well 
as  slips  on  which  lists  of  books  wanted  can  be  made 
out;  but  the  fullest  possible  catalogs  and  the  finest 
appointments  in  the  delivery  room  cannot  take  the 
place  of  direct  contact  between  librarian  or  assistants 
and  the  public.  Wherever  possible,  the  person  to 
whom  the  borrower  applies  for  a  book  should  go  him- 
self to  the  shelves  for  it. 

The  stranger  in  the  library  should  be  made  wel- 
come. Encourage  the  timid,  volunteer  to  them  direc- 
tions and  suggestions,  and  instruct  them  in  the  library's 
methods.  Conversation  at  the  counter  having  to  do 
with  wants  of  borrowers  should  be  encouraged  rather 
than  discouraged.  No  mechanical  devices  can  take 
the  place  of  face  to  face  question  and  answer. 

The  public  like  to  handle  and  examine  their  books, 
and  it  is  good  for  them  to  do  it.  They  like  the  arrange- 
ments in  the  library  to  be  simple;  they  object  to  red 
tape  and  rules.  They  like  to  have  their  institutions 
seem  to  assume — through,  for  example,  the  absence  of 
signs — that  they  know  how  to  conduct  themselves 
courteously  without  being  told.  They  don't  like  delays. 
They  like  to  be  encouraged  to  ask  questions.  They 
like  to  be  consulted  as  to  their  wants,  and  as  to  changes 
in  arrangements  and  methods.  They  like  to  feel  at 
home  in  their  library. 


THE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY    FOR    THE    PUBLIC  131 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

The  public  library  for  the  public 

The  librarian  of  former  times  was  almost  invariably 
a  bookworm,  and  was  often  a  student  properly  so 
called.  The  older  librarians  of  the  present  day,  and 
the  librarians  of  the  great  libraries  of  our  cities,  are 
also  very  commonly  men  of  letters,  men  of  learning, 
men  who  admire  the  student  spirit  and  know  how  to 
appreciate  it.  The  librarian  of  former  days  actually 
felt  that  the  books  of  which  he  had  charge  were  to  be 
used,  if  they  were  used  at  all,  chiefly,  if  not  only,  by 
persons  who  wished  to  make  some  careful  and  pains- 
taking research;  and  the  older  librarians,  and  the 
librarians  of  the  greater  libraries  of  today,  are  also 
inclined  to  think  that  their  libraries  are  best  used,  or 
at  least  are  used  as  fully  as  they  need  be,  when  they 
are  visited  by  those  who  are  engaged  in  original  investi- 
gation or  serious  study  of  some  sort.  As  a  fellow 
librarian  once  wrote  me.  for  example,  of  one  of  his 
colleagues,  "  His  whole  trend  is  scholarly  rather  than 
popular;  he  appreciates  genuine  contributions  to  art, 
science,  and  industry,  but  has  little  taste  for  the  great 
class  of  books  that  the  main  body  of  readers  care  for." 
This  view  of  literature,  libraries,  and  the  use  of  books, 
and  this  special  fondness  for  what  may  be  called  genuine 
contributions  to  art,  science,  and  industry,  are  proper 
enough  in  their  time  and  place;  but  it  cannot  be  too 
often  impressed  upon  the  library  world,  and  upon  those 
who  contribute  to  the  support  of  libraries,  and  upon 


132  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

trustees  and  directors  generally,  that  the  thing  that  is 
of  great  consequence  in  the  work  of  the  free  public 
library  is  not  its  product  in  the  shape  of  books  which 
are  the  results  of  careful  research,  or  of  books  which 
are  contributions  to  science,  art,  and  industry;  it  is 
the  work  that  the  library  does  from  day  to  day  in 
stimulating  the  inquiring  spirit,  in  adding  to  the  interest 
in  things,  and  in  broadening  the  minds  of  the  common 
people  who  form  90  per  cent  at  least  of  the  public 
library  patrons.  That  is  to  say,  the  public  library  is 
chiefly  concerned  not  in  the  products  of  education,  as 
shown  in  the  finished  book,  but  in  the  process  of  educa- 
tion as  shown  in  the  developing  and  training  of  the 
library  users,  of  the  general  public. 

It  is  from  this  common-folks-education  point  of 
view  that  the  advocate  of  the  open-shelf  system  looks 
upon  the  question  of  library  administration.  A  free 
public  library  is  not  a  people's  post-graduate  school, 
it  is  the  people's  common  school. 

The  more  I  see  and  learn  of  free  public  libraries  the 
more  I  am  convinced  that  a  public  library  can  reach 
a  high  degree  of  efficiency  in  its  work  only  when  its 
books  are  accessible  to  all  its  patrons.  The  free  public 
library  should  not  be  managed  for  the  use  of  the  special 
student,  save  in  special  cases,  any  more  than  is  the 
free  public  school.  That  it  should  be  solely  or  chiefly 
or  primarily  the  student's  library,  in  any  proper  sense 
of  the  word,  is  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  whole 
free  public  library  movement  as  would  be  the  making 
of  the  public  schools  an  institution  for  the  creation  of 
Greek  philologians.  Everyone  engaged  in  educational 
work,  and  especially  those  thus  engaged  who  are  most 
thoroughly  equipped  for  the  work  in  a  literary  way, 


THE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY    FOR    THE    PUBLIC  133 

and  are  most  in  touch  with  the  literary  and  scholarly 
spirit,  should  have  his  attention  called  again  and  again 
to  the  needs  of  the  crowd,  the  mass,  the  common  people, 
the  general  run,  the  90  per  cent  who  either  have  never 
been  within  a  schoolroom,  or  left  it  forever  by  the  time 
they  were  thirteen  years  of  age.  And  his  attention 
should  be  again  and  again  called  to  the  fact  that  of 
the  millions  of  children  who  are  getting  an  education 
in  this  country  today,  not  over  5  or  6  per  cent  at  the 
outside,  and  perhaps  even  less  than  that,  ever  get  as 
far,  even,  as  the  high  schools.  The  few,  of  course,  rule 
and  must  keep  the  lamp  burning,  but  the  many  must 
have  sufficient  education  to  know  how  to  walk  by  it 
if  democracy  is  to  endure.  And  the  school  for  the 
many  is,  and  is  to  be,  if  the  opinions  of  librarians  are 
correct,  the  free  public  library ;  but  it  cannot  be  a  school 
for  the  many  unless  the  many  walk  into  it,  and  go 
among  its  books,  handle  them,  and  so  doing  come  to 
know  them  and  to  love  them  and  to  use  them,  and  to 
get  wisdom  from  them. 


134  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXXV 
Advice  to  a  librarian 

[From  Public  Libraries,  June,  1897] 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  position  of  librarian  is  more 
of  an  executive  business  affair  than  a  literary  one.  Let 
me  give  you  fair  warning — it  is  in  no  sense  your  busi- 
ness to  dictate  to  others  as  to  what  they  may  or  may 
not,  should  or  should  not,  read,  and  if  you  attempt 
to  assume  such  responsibility  you  will  make  unnum- 
bered enemies,  and  take  upon  yourself  a  thankless  and 
uncalled-for  task. 

Frankly,  do  you  know  what  is  good  for  me  to  read? 
Are  you  not  very  much  in  doubt  what  is  best  for  your- 
self? Isn't  there  a  doubt  in  the  best  and  most  candid 
minds  upon  this  same  subject?  Let  the  board  of 
directors  assume  the  responsibilities,  work  carefully  and 
cautiously  for  the  things  that  are  considered  best  by 
persons  of  some  authority,  the  people  with  sound, 
healthy  bodies  and  clean  minds,  and  thoroughly  dis- 
trust the  literary  crank.  Don't  be  too  sure  of  your 
own  judgment ;  the  other  fellow  may  be  right,  especially 
as  to  what  he  wants  and  needs. 

Hang  on  to  your  tastes  and  prejudices  for  yourself, 
but  don't  impose  them  upon  others.  Cultivate  your 
own  tastes  carefully  by  reading  but  little,  and  that 
little  of  the  best;  avoid  the  latest  sensation  until  you 
are  quite  sure  it  is  more  than  a  sensation;  if  you  have 
to  buy  it  to  please  the 'patrons,  have  some  convenient 
(literary)  dog  of  good  appetite  and  digestive  organs, 


ADVICE    TO    A    LIBRARIAN  135 

and  try  it  on  him  or  her  and  watch  the  general  effect. 
You  will  be  astonished  how  much  you  will  find  out 
about  a  book,  its  morals  and  manners,  by  the  things 

they  don't  say.  Our  mutual  friend's  father,  Mr.  D , 

used  to  utterly  damn  a  book  to  me  when  he  said  it 
was  Just  fair,  and  his  It's  a  likely  story,  put  things 
in  the  front  ranks.  Just  get  the  confidence  of  as  many 
readers  as  you  can,  grapple  some  of  the  most  divergent 
minds  with  hooks  of  steel,  and  in  finding  out  how  little 
you  know  that  is  of  any  real  value  to  anyone  else,  you 
will  begin  to  be  of  some  little  value  to  yourself.  Don't 
try  to  direct.  The  fellow  that  wants  your  direction 
will  cause  you  to  ooze  out  the  information  he  needs, 
and  you  will  hardly  know  that  you  have  told  him 
anything. 

I  may  be,  and  doubtless  am,  saying  much  that  is 
quite  unnecessary,  but  I  have  tried  to  bear  in  mind 
some  of  my  own  mistakes,  and  of  others  around  me. 
I  have  been  impressed  with  the  fact  that  librarians 
seem  to  think  that  they  must  or  ought  to  know  every- 
thing, and  get  to  think  they  do  know.  It  is  a  delusion. 
One  can't  know  it  all,  and  only  a  hopeless  case  tries. 

Be  more  than  content  to  be  ignorant  on  many 
things.  Look  at  your  position  as  a  high-grade  busi- 
ness one,  look  after  the  working  details,  have  things 
go  smoothly,  know  the  whereabouts  and  classification 
of  the  books,  and  let  people  choose  their  own  mental 
food,  but  see  to  it  that  all  that  is  put  before  them  is 
wholesome. 


136  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 
The  librarian  as  a  host 

Maude  R.  Henderson,  in  Public  Libraries,  September,  1896 

Each  librarian  needs  to  have  an  ideal  for  society; 
must  have  before  him  an  end  of  which  his  work  will 
be  only  a  part. 

It  is  the  peculiar  position  of  the  librarian  to  be  so 
situated  that  with  the  consent  of  his  trustees  he  may, 
simply  by  virtue  of  his  office,  be  able  to  draw  about 
him  more  of  the  elements  of  usefulness  than  almost 
any  other  person.  Even  a  librarian  who  is  a  stranger 
is  not  taking  matters  unduly  into  his  own  hands  in 
immediately  availing  himself  of  this  privilege,  for  he 
is  placed  in  the  community  where  he  can  bring  together 
those  who  have  something  to  give  and  those  who  wish 
to  receive.  His  invitation  is  non-partisan,  non-sectarian, 
and  without  social  distinctions. 

The  object  of  this  article  upon  the  librarian  as  a 
host  is  to  suggest  methods  of  usefulness  for  the  com- 
munity through  the  forms  of  entertainment  at  the 
disposal  of  the  librarian.  A  surprising  number  of 
people,  not  having  attractive  surroundings,  and  not 
having  unbounded  resources  within  themselves,  lead 
dull  lives.  The  theater  is  expensive,  sometimes  not 
available,  often  not  attractive,  and  one  of  the  attrac- 
tions of  a  library  evening  will  be  that  it  is  "  some  place 
to  go,"  but  does  no  violence  either  to  their  scruples  or 
their  ideas  of  economy.  Many  who  will  not  identify 
themselves  with  clubs,  from  an  aversion  to  organiza- 


THE    LIBRARIAN    AS    A    HOST  137 

tion,  will  appreciate  the  freedom  from  it  here,  for  there 
will  be  no  officers,  no  rules,  no  fees. 

If  there  is  no  especial  note  that  the  librarian  thinks 
it  would  be  well  to  sound,  he  may  let  it  be  known  that 
the  first  of  a  series  of  entertainments  to  be  given  by 
the  library,  at  the  library,  will  be,  for  instance,  a  talk 
upon  the  Child  in  History,  Our  American  Illustrators, 
or  some  attractive  subject. 

There  are  always  a  number  of  specialists,  even  in 
small  places,  ^  who  can  contribute  liberally  to  these 
plans,  thus  relieving  the  librarian  of  any  real  work 
beyond  that  of  planning,  while  it  accomplishes  the 
double  purpose  of  engaging  the  interest  of  the  speaker 
in  the  work  of  the  library,  and  of  furnishing  the  enter- 
tainment for  others.  The  following  suggestions,  which 
have  been  prepared  for  the  work  of  a  small  library, 
will  give  a  more  definite  idea  of  the  plan. 

Very  often  there  will  be  found  some  one  who,  having 
a  special  fondness  for  one  school  of  art,  has  made  a 
collection  of  reproductions  of  its  famous  works  in 
photographs,  casts  or  engravings,  who  will  willingly 
loan  them  for  the  illustration  of  a  talk  upon  this  theme, 
even  if  not  quite  as  willingly  giving  the  talk  himself. 

A  beautiful  program  for  a  musical  evening  would 
consist  of  the  conversation  or  paper  upon  a  certain 
musical  form,  such  as  the  opera,  symphony,  or  perhaps 
dance  music,  being  illustrated  and  varied  by  the  per- 
formance of  examples  of  those  forms.  The  organized 
musical  clubs  could  here  be  of  the  greatest  service  in 
taking  charge  of  the  whole  entertainment. 

An  enthusiasm  for  a  work  of  this  kind  may  be  some- 
what crushed  out  by  the  press  of  regular  duties,  but 
the  librarian  may  be  greatly  helped  by  the  cooperation 


138  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

of  organized  clubs.  Musical  societies,  Saengerbunds, 
the  Elks  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  and  other  soci- 
eties are  constantly  prepaiing  excellent  entertainments, 
which  it  is  hoped  they  will  be  willing  to  reproduce  for 
those  who  have  either  not  the  leisure  or  the  inclination 
to  study.  Such  a  movement  does  not  in  any  way 
divert  the  energies  of  the  library  from  their  original 
aims,  but  is  only  another  means  of  enhancing  their 
efficacy.  The  resources  of  the  library  upon  each  of  the 
subjects  presented  can  be  made  known  in  many  ways 
familiar  to  the  librarian,  such  as  posted  lists,  bulletins, 
and  by  the  mention  of  them  in  the  talks. 

Upon  a  night  which  the  librarian  might  consider  of 
interest  to  them,  special  invitations  may  be  sent  to 
the  different  organized  societies  of  working  people,  such 
as  the  retail  clerks,  labor  unions,  etc.,  who  might  not 
include  themselves  readily  in  a  general  published 
invitation. 

It  has  been  generally  observed  that  more  people 
are  willing  to  read  than  know  what  to  read,  and  are 
always  glad  of  help  in  selection. 

The  originality  of  the  librarian  will  develop  many 
themes  and  schemes,  and  the  work  itself  will  doubt- 
less show  new  veins  which  may  be  followed  up.  It 
may  be  that  not  many  will  avail  themselves  of  any 
one  invitation,  but  with  a  constant  change  of  topic 
and  manner  of  presentation,  there  cannot  fail  to  be  a 
great  number,  eventually,  whose  attention  will  be 
enlisted. 


LIBRARY    PATRONS  139 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

Library  patrons — Making  friends  of  them 

Library  patrons  may  be  roughly  divided  into  classes, 
thus :  First — The  adult  student  who.  on  rare  occasions, 
calls  to  supplement  the  resources  of  his  own  collection 
of  books  with  the  resources  of  the  public  institution. 
This  class  is  very  small.  Second — The  dilettante,  or 
amateur,  who  is  getting  up  an  essay  or  a  criticism  for 
some  club  or  society,  and  wishes  to  verify  his  impres- 
sion as  to  the  color  of  James  Russell  Lowell's  hair,  or 
the  exact  words  Dickens  once  used  to  James  T.  Fields 
in  speaking  of  a  certain  ought-to-be-forgotten  poem  of 
Browning's.  This  class  is  large,  and  its  annual  growth 
in  this  country  is  probably  an  encouraging  sign  of  the 
times.  It  indicates  interest.  Third — The  serious- 
minded  reader  who  alternately  tackles  Macaulay,  Dar- 
win, and  Tom  Jones  with  frequent  and  prolonged 
relapses — simply  to  rest  his  mind — into  Mrs.  Wister 
and  Capt.  King.  This  class  is  quite  large,  and  though 
in  too  large  a  measure  the  victims  of  misplaced  con- 
fidence in  Sir  John  Lubbock  and  Frederick  Harrison, 
they  make  excellent  progress  and  do  much  to  keep  up 
the  reading  habit.  Fourth — The  "Oh,  just-anything- 
good-you-know "  reader.  Her  name  is  legion.  She 
never  knows  what  she  has  read.  Yet  the  social  student 
who  failed  to  take  into  account  the  desultory,  pastime 
reader,  would  miss  a  great  factor  in  the  spread  of  ideas. 
Fifth — The  person  who  does  not  read.  He  is  commoner 
than  most  suppose.  He  is  often  young,  more  often  boy 


140  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

than  girl,  oftener  young  man  than  young  woman.  He 
commits  eternally  what  Mr.  Putnam  aptly  calls  the 
great  crime  against  the  library  of  staying  away  from 
it.  He  is  classed  among  the  patrons  of  the  library 
somewhat  as  the  western  schoolma'am  brought  in 
knowledge  of  the  capital  of  Massachusetts  as  part  of 
her  mental  baggage:  "Well,  I  know  I  ought  to  know 
it."  He  ought  to  be  a  library  patron.  How  make 
him  one?  There  are  many  methods,  and  all  should  be 
tried.  The  Pears'  soap  plan  of  printers'  ink  is  one  of 
the  finest  and  best. 

If  a  library  has  or  is  a  good  thing  for  the  community 
let  it  so  be  said,  early,  late,  and  often,  in  large,  plain 
type.  So  doing  shall  the  library's  books  enter — before 
too  old  to  be  of  service — into  that  state  of  utter  worn- 
out-ness  which  is  the  only  known  book-heaven.  An- 
other way,  and  by  some  found  good,  is  to  work  the 
sinfully  indifferent  first  up  into  a  library  missionary, 
and  then  transform  him  into  a  patron.  A  library  is 
something  to  which  he  can  give  an  old  book,  an  old 
paper,  an  old  magazine,  with  no  loss  to  himself.  Hav- 
ing given,  the  library  is  at  once  his  field,  a  Timbuctoo 
for  his  missionary  spirit,  is  in  part  his  creation.  Ever 
after  he  is  its  interested  friend.  He  wants  to  know 
about  it.  He  goes  to  see  it.  He  uses  it. 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES    AND    RECREATION  141 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 
Public  libraries  and  recreation 

W.  I.  Fletcher  in  Public  Libraries,  July,  1898 

There  is  nothing  out  of  place  in  the  comparing  of 
the  library  to  the  school  and  the  college,  but  its  true 
mission  is  not  to  be  so  limited.  To  a  large  extent 
it  is  to  be  compared,  as  an  object  of  public  care  and 
expense,  with  the  park,  the  modern  common,  where 
there  are  flower-beds,  rare  plants  in  conservatories, 
with  boats  in  summer  and  skating  in  winter,  and 
music  by  excellent  bands.  Not  very  strictly  useful, 
these  things,  but  recognized  everywhere  as  ministering 
to  the  real  culture  of  the  people.  Let  this  library,  then, 
be  the  place  where  you  will  come,  not  merely  to  study 
and  store  your  minds  with  so-called  "useful"  knowl- 
but  also  often  to  have  a  good  time;  to  refresh 
your  minds  and  hearts  with  humor  and  poetry  and . 
fiction.  Let  the  boys  find  here  wholesome  books  of 
adventure,  and  tales  such  as  a  boy  likes;  let  the  girls 
find  the  stories  which  delight  them  and  give  their  fancy 
and  imagination  exercise;  let  the  tired  housewife  find 
the  novels  which  will  transport  her  to  an  ideal  realm 
of  love  and  happiness;  let  the  hard- worked  man,  instead 
of  being  expected  always  to  read  "improving"  books 
of  history  or  politics,  choose  that  which  shall  give  him 
relaxation  of  mind  and  nerve,  perhaps  the  Innocents 
abroad,  or  Josh  Billings'  "Allminax,"  or  Samanthy 
at  Saratoga. 


142  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

Books  as  useful  tools 

There  is  still  too  much  of  superstition  and  rever- 
ence mingled  with  the  thought  of  books  and  literature, 
and  study  and  studentship  in  the  popular  mind.  Books 
are  tools,  of  which  here  and  there  one  is  useful  for  a 
certain  purpose  to  a  certain  person.  The  farmer  con- 
sults his  farm  paper  on  the  mixing  of  pig-feed;  the 
cook  takes  from  the  latest  treatise  the  rules  for  a  new 
salad;  the  chemist  finds  in  his  journal  the  last  word 
on  the  detection  of  poisons;  the  man  of  affairs  turns 
to  the  last  market  reports  for  guidance  in  his  day's 
transactions;  and  all  have  used  books,  have  studied 
literature.  The  hammer  and  the  poem,  the  hoe  and 
the  dictionary,  the  engine  and  the  encyclopedia,  the 
trowel  and  the  treatise  on  philosophy — these  are  tools. 
One  and  all,  they  are  expressions  of  the  life  of  the  race. 
But  they  are  not,  for  that  reason,  to  be  reverenced. 
They  are  proper  for  man's  service,  not  man  for  theirs. 
Approach  books,  then,  as  you  would  a  sewing  machine, 
a  school,  or  a  factory. 

Literature,  after  all,  is  simply  all  that's  printed.  In 
print  are  found  the  sum  of  the  experience  and  observa- 
tion of  the  whole  race.  Out  of  this  print  it  is  the 
librarian's  business  to  help  his  fellows  to  draw  such 
facts  and  suggestions  as  may  aid  them  in  their  work. 


A    VILLAGE    LIBRARY    SUCCESSFULLY    MANAGED      143 


CHAPTER  XL 
A  village  library  successfully  managed 

James  R.  Garfield,  in  Public  Libraries,  October,  1896 

Mentor,  Ohio,  is  a  village  of  but  500  people;  there- 
fore we  are  somewhat  limited  in  our  ability  to  raise 
funds  for  carrying  on  library  work.  But  some  six 
years  ago  15  of  us  got  together  and  began  holding  a 
series  of  meetings  every  month,  something  in  the  nature 
of  the  old  New  England  township  meeting,  for  the 
purpose  of  stirring  up  an  interest  in  town  affairs,  and 
in  doing  that  we  considered  it  necessary  to  have  some 
central  point  of  interest  around  which  we  could  all 
work,  and  we  chose  as  that  the  library.  There  had 
never  been  a  library  in  the  village  except  a  small  circu- 
lating library.  \Ve  all  believed  that  the  use  of  books 
and  the  greater  knowledge  of  books  would  be  a  com- 
mon center  of  interest  around  which  we  could  all  work 
and  toward  which  we  would  be  glad  to  give  work. 
The  result  of  five  years'  work  in  this  way  was  that  we 
now  have  a  library  of  about  i6oov.,  and  two  years  ago, 
acting  under  a  general  law  of  the  state,  we  became 
incorporated,  and  requested  the  village  council  to  levy 
a  tax  for  the  work  of  the  library.  We  at  that  time 
had  about  icoov.  The  council  very  readily  saw  the 
advantage  of  this  kind  of  work.  They  appreciated  what 
was  being  done  for  the  citizens  and  schools  of  the  state, 
and  therefore  they  levied  a  tax  and  turned  the  proceeds 
of  the  tax  over  to  the  library  board.  In  this  way, 
you  will  see,  the  library  board  is  kept  entirely  aloof 


144  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

from  politics.  There  are  no  elections  by  the  people, 
nor  is  the  board  appointed  by  any  political  officers. 
It  is  a  self-constituted  body,  a  corporate  body  under 
the  laws  of  this  state,  and  as  long  as  we  maintain  our 
corporate  existence  the  village  may  turn  over  the  funds 
to  the  library.  We  settled  the  difficulty  of  women's 
rights  by  having  an  equal  number  of  both  men  and 
women  on  the  board,  and  then  in  order  to  avoid  the 
question  of  disruption  of  families  we  made  the  other 
member  of  the  family  who  was  not  on  an  honorary 
member  of  the  board.  In  this  way  we  increased  the 
number  of  workers  and  at  the  same  time  satisfied  the 
desire  of  many  people  to  hold  office. 

But  we  found  that  15,  together  with  the  super- 
numerary and  honorary  members,  were  unwieldy,  and 
the  work  practically  devolved  upon  very  few  of  the 
members.  Therefore,  when  we  incorporated,  we  made 
an  executive  board  consisting  of  five  members,  and 
they  had  absolute  management  of  the  library  proper. 
They  are  elected  every  year  from  the  members  of  the 
association,  and  have  absolute  control  of  the  library. 

Although  our  library  is  supported  by  the  village, 
we  make  it  absolutely  free  to  anyone  who  desires  to 
use  it.  Those  outside  the  village  or  township  are 
required  to  put  up  a  nominal  deposit,  merely  for  the 
safe  return  of  the  book.  We  made  this  the  ideal  toward 
which  we  are  working — that  the  friendship  of  books  is 
like  the  friendship  of  men,  it  is  worth  nothing  and 
avails  nothing  unless  it  is  used  constantly  and  improved 
constantly. 


RULES    FOR    THE    PUBLIC  14$ 


CHAPTER  XLI 

Rules  for  the  public 

Printed  rules,  telling  the  public  how  they  may  use 
the  library,  are  best  put  in  the  form  of  information  and 
suggestions.  Thus  published  they  do  not  give  the 
impression  of  red  tape  and  restrictions  so  much  as  of 
help  in  making  access  to  the  library's  resources  easier 
and  pleasanter. 

The  following  suggestions  and  rules  are  copied  with 
slight  modification  from  a  set  in  actual  use. 

The  Utopia  free  public  library 

Information  and  suggestions 
GENERAL 

The  library  is  open  to  everyone. 
Do  not  hesitate  to  ask  questions. 
Suggestions  of  books  for  purchase  and  of  changes 
in  methods  are  asked  for. 

CIRCULATING    DEPARTMENT 

The  circulating  department  is  open  from  10  to  9. 

All  persons  residing  in  the  city  of  Utopia,  and  giving 
satisfactory  reference,  are  entitled  to  use  the  circulating 
department  of  the  library  on  subscribing  to  the  follow- 
ing agreement: 

I  hereby  certify  that  I  am  a  resident  of  the  city  of 
Utopia,  and,  in  consideration  of  the  right  to  use  the 
free  circulating  department  of  the  library,  agree  to  com- 
ply with  the  regulations  provided  for  its  government. 


146  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

A  card-holder  is  responsible  for  all  books  taken  on 
his  card. 

Immediate  notice  should  be  given  of  change  of 
residence. 

The  library  card  should  be  presented  when  a  book 
is  drawn,  renewed,  ofr  returned. 

To  renew  a  book,  bring  or  send  your  card  and  the 
number  of  the  book. 

Lost  cards  can  be  replaced  at  once  on  payment  of 
10  cents  for  renewal,  or  without  charge  after  a  delay 
of  two  weeks. 

One  book,  or  one  work  if  not  in  more  than  three 
volumes,  may  be  taken  at  a  time  and  kept  two  weeks, 
when  it  may  be  renewed  for  two  weeks. 

Four  weeks  is  the  limit  of  time  that  a  book  can  be 
retained  in  any  one  household. 

Books  must  be  returned  on  the  same  card  on  which 
they  are  drawn. 

A  book  cannot  be  transferred  from  one  account  to 
another  unless  it  is  brought  to  the  library. 

A  fine  at  the  rate  of  2  cents  per  day  is  assessed  on 
each  book  retained  over  time,  payable  on  its  return. 

A  book  retained  more  than  a  week  beyond  the  time 
limit  may  be  sent  for  at  the  expense  of  the  delinquent. 

Books  marked  with  a  *  in  the  catalogs  are  refer- 
ence books,  and  are  not  lent. 

-    No   pen   or  pencil   marks   should   be   made   in   the 
books. 

Any  person  who  refuses  to  pay  the  fines  or  expenses 
mentioned,  or  wilfully  violates  any  of  the  foregoing 
rules,  forfeits  thereby  all  right  to  the  use  of  the  library. 

Teachers,  and  for  good  cause  others,  can  take  out 
more  than  one  book  (other  than  fiction)  at  a  time, 


RULES    FOR    THE    PUBLIC  147 

for  such  a  term  as  may  have  been  agreed  upon  before 
the  books  leave  the  library.  In  the  absence  of  such 
agreement  the  books  can  be  kept  for  the  usual  time  only. 
Persons  not  resident  in  the  city  may  be  allowed  to 
take  books  on  payment  of  $i  per  year,  and  on  signing 
an  agreement  to  comply  with  the  regulations  of  the 
library. 

REFERENCE    DEPARTMENT 

The  librarian  and  assistants  are  glad  of  opportunities 
to  help  those  wishing  to  do  reference  work  of  any  kind 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  location  of  the  books  and  the 
use  of  catalogs,  indexes,  and  other  aids. 

READING    ROOM 

The  reading  room  is  open  from  9  a.m.  to  9  p.m. 
on  week  days;  and  on  Sundays  from  i  p.m.  to  6  p.m. 

Conversation  and  conduct  inconsistent  with  quiet 
and  order  are  prohibited. 

Back  numbers  of  papers  and  periodicals  may  be 
had  on  application  to  the  attendants. 

The  books,  papers,  and  periodicals  should  be  care- 
fully used,  and  neither  marked  nor  cut. 

Persons  who  wilfully  violate  any  of  the  foregoing 
rules  thereby  forfeit  all  right  to  the  use  of  the  read- 
ing room. 


148  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XLII 

Rules   for   the   government   of   the    Board   of    trustees   and 
employes  of  the  public  library 

[Slightly  modified  from  the  rules  of  the  Erie  (Pa.)  public 
library.] 

ARTICLE  I 
MEETINGS    OF   THE    BOARD 

Section  i.  The  regular  meetings  of  the  board  of 
trustees  shall  be  held  on  the  Monday  preceding  the 
first  Thursday  of  every  month,  at  8  p.m. 

Sec.  2.  Special  meetings  shall  be  called  by  the  presi- 
dent whenever,  in  his  judgment,  they  may  be  necessary; 
or  at  the  written  request  of  three  members  of  the  board. 

ARTICLE  II 

QUORUMS 

Section  i.  Five  members  of  the  board  and  two  of 
any  standing  committee  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  in 
either  case,  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

ARTICLE  III 

ORDER    OF    BUSINESS 

Section  i.  The  order  of  business  at  all  regular  meet- 
ings of  the  board  shall  be  as  follows: 

1.  Roll  call. 

2.  Reading  of  the  minutes. 

3.  Petitions  and  communications. 

4.  Hearing  of  citizens  and  others. 

5.  Report  of  the  secretary. 


RULES    FOR    TRUSTEES    AND    EMPLOYES  149 

6.  Report  of  the  librarian. 

7.  Report  of  the  book  committee. 

8.  Report  of  the  finance  committee. 

9.  Report  of  the  building  committee. 

10.  Report  of  special  committees. 

1 1 .  Bills  and  pay-rolls. 

12.  New  busines*. 

ARTICLE  IV 

OFFICERS 

Section  i.  The  officers  of  the  board  shall  consist  of 
a  president,  vice-president,  and  secretary,  each  of  whom 
shall  be  elected  at  the  regular  meeting  in  January,  to 
serve  for  one  year.  In  case  of  a  vacancy  the  board 
may  elect  a  person  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  at  any 
regular  meeting.  Temporary  appointments  may  be 
made  in  the  absence  of  the  regular  officers. 

Sec.  2.  The  president  shall  preside  at  the  meetings 
of  the  board;  appoint  the  various  committees;  certify 
all  bills  that  have  been  recommended  for  payment  by 
the  board ;  prepare  the  annual  report ;  see  to  the  general 
enforcement  of  the  rules ;  and  perform  such  other  duties 
as  the  board  may  direct.  In  conjunction  with  the 
finance  committee,  he  shall  make  an  estimate  at  the 
close  of  each  fiscal  year,  of  the  probable  expenses  for 
the  ensuing  year,  and  submit  the  same  to  the  board 
for  its  action. 

Sec.  3.  The  vice-president  shall  perform  the  duties 
of  the  president  in  the  latter's  absence. 

Sec.  4.  The  secretary  shall  record  all  proceedings  of 
the  board;  read  the  minutes  of  the  preceding  meeting, 
or  meetings,  at  each  regular  meeting;  keep  a  detailed 
account  of  receipts  and  expenses;  report  the  same  to 


150  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

the  board  monthly;  file  all  communications,  vouchers, 
and  other  papers ;  certify  all  bills  that  have  been  recom- 
mended for  payment  by  the  board;  transmit  all  reso- 
lutions and  recommendations  that  may  require  it  to 
the  board  of  education  or  the  proper  committee  thereof; 
prepare  an  annual  report  of  receipts  and  expenses ;  and 
perform  such  other  duties  as  the  board  may  require. 

ARTICLE  V 

COMMITTEES 

Section  i.  The  standing  committees  of  the  board 
shall  be  a  finance  committee,  a  book  committee,  and 
a  committee  on  building  and  grounds,  each  to  consist 
of  three  members,  to  be  named  by  the  president  at  the 
regular  meeting  in  February  of  each  year. 

Sec.  2.  The  finance  committee  shall  certify  to  the 
correctness  of  all  bills  and  pay-rolls  before  their  pre- 
sentation to  the  board;  require  a  voucher  for  all 
expenses;  see  that  the  accounts  are  properly  kept;  aid 
the  president  in  making  up  his  annual  estimates;  verify 
the  fiscal  reports  of  the  secretary  and  librarian;  and 
look  after  the  financial  affairs  of  the  board  generally. 

Sec.  3.  The  book  committee  shall  be  consulted  by 
the  librarian  in  the  selection  of  all  books,  magazines, 
newspapers,  etc.,  prepare  the  rules  for  the  manage- 
ment of  the  library;  supervise  the  cataloging,  labeling, 
and  shelving  of  the  various  publications;  have  general 
charge  of  the  book  rooms;  suggest  suitable  persons  for 
employes  (except  the  janitor  and  his  assistants),  and 
fix  the  duties  of  the  same;  require  a  list  of  all  gifts, 
purchases  and  losses  to  be  kept  by  the  librarian,  and 
verify  his  monthly  and  annual  statements  of  the  same. 


RULES    FOR    TRUSTEES    AND    EMPLOYES  151 

Sec.  4.  The  committee  on  building  and  grounds  shall 
purchase  and  take  charge  of  the  furniture  and  fixtures 
in  the  Library  building ;  look  after  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  building  and  grounds  (inclusive  of  side- 
walks, lawns,  heating,  lighting,  and  ventilation),  and 
suggest  the  proper  persons  to  serve  as  janitor  and 
assistants  to  the  same.  They  shall  require  all  parts  of 
the  premises  to  be  kept  in  a  neat,  clean,  and  creditable 
condition,  and  report  all  defects  that  require  repair 
or  remedy. 

ARTICLE  VI 

EXPENDITURES 

Section  i.  Unless  otherwise  ordered  by  the  board, 
no  indebtedness  shall  be  incurred  without  the  previous 
approval  of  the  proper  committee. 

Sec.  2.  No  committee  shall  authorize  an  expense  of 
more  than  $25  in  any  one  month  without  having  secured 
the  sanction  of  the  board  in  advance. 

Sec.  3.  No  bill  shall  be  recommended  to  be  paid  by 
the  board  until  it  has  been  approved  by  the  proper 
committee  in  writing. 

Sec.  4.  All  bills  recommended  for  payment  by  the 
board  shall  be  certified  by  the  president  and  secretary. 

Sec.  5.  When  bids  are  asked  for  supplies,  furniture, 
repairs,  labor,  etc.,  they  shall  be  made  under  seal,  and 
shall  only  be  opened  at  a  meeting  of  the  board  or  of 
the  committee  to  which  the  matter  has  been  referred. 

ARTICLE  VII 

TO    BE    IN    WRITING 

Section  i.  All  reports,  recommendations,  and  reso- 
lutions shall  be  submitted  in  writing. 


152  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Sec.  2.  Reports  of  committees  shall  be  signed  by 
two  members  thereof. 

ARTICLE  VIII 

EMPLOYES 

Section  i.  The  terms  of  all  regular  employes  shall 
continue  until  their  successors  are  appointed.  They 
shall  be  subject,  however,  to  removal  for  cause,  at  any 
time,  by  a  vote  of  the  board. 

Sec.  2.  The  president  may  suspend  any  employe, 
for  cause,  subject  to  the  action  of  the  board  at  its 
next  meeting. 

Sec.  3.  The  salaries  of  employes  shall  be  fixed  before 
their  election. 

ARTICLE  IX 

THE    LIBRARIAN 

Section  i.  Subject  to  the  direction  of  the  board 
and  the  several  committees,  the  librarian  shall  have 
supervisory  charge,  control,  and  management  of  the 
Library  building  and  all  of  its  appurtenances,  as  well 
as  of  all  the  employes  in  and  about  the  same. 

Sec.  2.  He  shall  he  held  strictly  responsible  for  the 
care  and  preservation  of  the  property  in  charge  of  the 
board ;  the  courtesy  and  efficiency  of  the  library  service ; 
the  accuracy  of  the  records ;  the  reliability  of  his  accounts 
and  statements ;  the  classifying,  cataloging,  and  shelving 
of  the  books;  the  enforcement  of  the  rules;  the  cleanli- 
ness and  good  condition  of  the  building,  grounds,  and 
sidewalks;  and  the  proper  heating,  lighting,  and  venti- 
lation of  the  building. 

Sec.  3.  He  shall  attend  the  meetings  of  the  board 
and  assist  the  secretary  in  keeping  his  minutes  and 
accounts. 


RULES    FOR    TRUSTEES    AND    EMPLOYES  153 

Sec.  4.  He  shall  keep  an  account,  in  permanent  form, 
of  all  his  receipts  and  expenses  on  behalf  of  the  library, 
and  report  the  same  to  the  board  monthly. 

Sec.  5.  He  shall  make  a  monthly  report  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  library,  including  a  list  of  all  accessions  to 
the  various  departments  of  the  same,  whether  by  gifts 
or  purchase,  with  such  recommendations  as,  in  his 
opinion,  will  promote  its  efficiency. 

Sec.  6.  He  shall  keep  record  books  of  all  accessions 
to  the  library  by  purchase,  and  of  all  gifts  for  its  several 
departments,  with  the  dates  when  received,  and,  in  the 
case  of  donations,  'the  names  and  places  of  residence 
of  the  donors. 

Sec.  7.  He  shall  promptly  and  courteously  acknowl- 
edge all  gifts  to  the  library  or  any  of  its  departments. 

Sec.  8.  He  shall  keep  an  account  of  the  time  of  the 
several  employe's;  prepare  the  pay-rolls  in  accordance 
therewith,  and  place  the  same  before  the  finance  com- 
mittee in  advance  of  each  regular  meeting. 

"Sec.  9.  He  shall  prepare  an  annual  report  showing, 
as  fully  as  may  be  practical,  the  operation  of  the  library 
and  its  several  departments  during  the  preceding  year, 
with  an  inventory  of  the  furniture,  books,  and  other 
contents  of  the  building. 

Sec.  10.  The  first  assistant  librarian  shall  perform 
the  duties  of  the  librarian  during  the  latter's  absence. 

ARTICLE  X 

AMENDMENTS 

Section  i.  Amendments  hereto  shall  only  be  made 
at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  board,  and  must  be  pro- 
posed at  least  one  month  previous  to  final  action  on 
the  same. 


154  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XLIII 

Reports 

As  far  as  the  welfare  of  the  library  is  concerned, 
the  money  spent  in  publishing  an  elaborate  annual 
report  can  often  be  better  invested  in  a  few  popular 
books,  or,  better  still,  in  a  few  attractively  printed 
statements  of  progress  and  of  needs,  distributed  through 
the  community  on  special  occasions.  If  there  must  be 
an  annual  report  for  the  general  public — which  will  not 
read  it — it  should  be  brief  and  interesting,  without 
many  figures  and  without  many  complaints.  Do  not 
think  it  necessary,  in  making  up  your  report,  to  adopt 
the  form  or  the  list  of  contents  usually  followed  by 
libraries.  Give  the  necessary  figures  as  briefly  as  may 
be,  and  adapt  the  rest  of  the  report  to  the  library  and 
its  community. 


LIBRARY    LEGISLATION  155 


CHAPTER  XLIV 
Library  legislation 

Frank  C.  Patten,  librarian  Helena  (Mont)  public  library 

The  modern  library  movement  is  embodying  ideas 
that  are  yet  to  make  public  libraries  about  as  common 
as  public  schools,  and  correspondingly  important  in 
educational  value.  After  a  generation  of  most  remark- 
able growth  of  public  libraries  in  number,  size,  and 
recognized  usefulness,  experience  can  now  enlighten  us 
in  regard  to  plans  of  library  support  and  organization. 
The  best  interests  of  the  movement  are  served  by 
embodying  the  results  of  this  experience  in  law.  Such 
a  law,  by  setting  forth  a  good  plan,  encourages  the 
establishment  and  promotes  the  growth  of  these  popular 
educational  institutions. 

Outline  of  a  food  law 

The  following  outline  (with  explanatory  notes) 
embraces  the  important  provisions  of  a  good  state 
library  law: 

i  Establishment  and  maintenance. — Authorize  the 
governing  body  in  connection  with  the  voters  of  any 
city,  town,  county,  school  district,  or  other  political 
body  that  has  power  to  levy  and  collect  taxes,  to 
establish  and  maintain  a  public  library  for  the  free  use 
of  the  people.  Provide  also  for  joint  establishment  and 
maintenance,  for  aiding  a  free  library  with  public  money, 
and  for  contract  with  some  existing  library  for  general 
or  special  library  privileges.  Provide  for  maintenance 


156  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

by  regular  annual  rate  of  tax.  Authorize  special  tax 
or  bonds  to  provide  rooms,  land,  or  buildings.  Provide 
that  on  petition  of  25  or  50  taxpayers  the  questions  of 
establishment,  rate  of  tax,  and  bonds  shall  first  be 
decided  by  vote  of  the  people  at  general  or  special  elec- 
tion, to  be  changed  only  by  another  vote. 

Note. — It  is  believed  that  there  need  be  no  limit  of  rate 
placed  in  the  state  law,  as  a  community  is  not  at  all  likely  to 
vote  to  tax  itself  too  high  for  library  support.  The  people 
of  a  small  place  will,  in  fact,  often  fail  to  realize  that  in  order 
to  raise  money  enough  to  accomplish  their  object  the  tax  rate 
must  be  higher  than  in  a  large  place.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  communities  will,  by  and  by,  spend  about  as  much  in 
support  of  their  public  libraries  as  in  support  of  their  public 
schools. 

2  Management. — Establish  an  independent  board  of 
trustees  and  place  the  management  wholly  in  its  hands. 
Constitute  the  library  a  public  corporation,  with  power 
to  acquire,  hold,  transfer,  and  lease  property,  and  to 
receive  donations  and  bequests.  Secure  a  permanent 
board  with  gradual  change  of  membership,  the  number 
of  members  to  be  not  less  than  three,  and  the  term  of 
office  certainly  to  be  not  less  than  three  years. 

Note.- — In  order  to  remove  public  library  management  from 
the  influences  of  party  politics,  the  library  and  its  property 
should  be  wholly  left  to  the  control  of  trustees  selected  from 
citizens  of  recognized  fitness  for  such  a  duty.  Ex-officio  mem- 
bership in  a  library  board  should  generally  be  avoided,  espe- 
cially in  case  of  a  small  board;  fitness  for  the  position  alone 
should  be  considered.  Experience  seems  to  show  that  in  cities 
the  proper  board  of  trustees  can  best  be  secured  through  appoint- 
ment by  the  mayor  and  confirmation  by  the  council.  It  is  a 
good  way  to  provide  for  five  trustees,  one  to  be  appointed  each 
year  for  a  term  of  five  years.  This  number  is  large  enough  to 
be  representative,  and  small  enough  to  avoid  the  great  diffi- 
culty in  securing  a  quorum  if  the  number  is  large.  The  length 
of  term  in  connection  with  gradual  change  of  membership 
encourages  careful  planning,  and  it  secures  the  much  needed 
continuity  of  management  and  political  independence.  And 
yet  there  is  sufficient  change  of  officers  so  that  the  board  will 
not  be  too  far  removed  from  the  public  will. 


LIBRARY    LEGISLATION  157 

3  Miscellaneous. — State    the    purpose    of    a    public 
library  broadly,   perhaps  in  the  form  of  a  definition. 
Make  possible  the  maintenance  of  loan,  reference,  read- 
ing   room,    museum,    lecture,    and    allied    educational 
features,  and  of  branches.     Prescribe  mode  for  chang- 
ing form  of  organization  of  an  existing  library  to  con- 
form to  new  law.     Impose  penalties  for  theft,  mutila- 
tion, over-detention,  and  disturbance.    Provide  for  dis- 
tributing all  publications  of  the  state  free  to  public 
libraries. 

Note. — It  is  probably  most  convenient  to  have  the  library 
year  correspond  with  the  calendar  year.  It  is  well  to  have 
the  trustees  appointed  and  the  report  of  the  library  made  at 
a  different  time  of  the  year  from  either  the  local  or  general 
elections.  The  library  is  thus  more  likely  to  be  free  from  the 
influences  of  party  politics.  To  have  a  library  treasurer  is 
probably  the  better  plan,  but  library  money  may  be  kept  in 
the  hands  of  the  municipal  treasurer  as  a  separate  fund,  and 
be  paid  out  by  order  of  the  board  of  trustees  only. 

Libraries  for  schoolrooms,  to  be  composed  of  reference 
books,  books  for  supplementary  reading,  class  duplicates,  and 
professional  books  for  teachers,  should  be  provided  for  in  the 
public  school  law.  School  funds  should  be  used  and  school 
authorities  should  manage  these  libraries.  The  business  of 
lending  books  for  home  use  is  better  and  more  economically 
managed  by  a  public  library',  having  an  organization  that  is 
independent  of  the  school  authorities. 

4  A  state  central  authority. — Establish  a  state  library 
commission;  appointments  on  this  commission  to  be 
made  by  the  governor  and  confirmed  by  the  senate, 
one  each  year  for  a  term  of  five  years.    Make  the  com- 
mission the  head  of  the  public  library  system  of  the 
state   with   supervisory   powers.      Let  the  commission 
manage  the  state  library  entirely,  and  center  all  its 
work  at  that  institution.     Let  it  be  the  duty  of  the 
commission,  whenever  it  is  asked,  to  give  advice  and 
instruction  in  organization  and  administration  to  the 
libraries   in   the   state;   to   receive   reports   from   these 


1 58  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

libraries  and  to  publish  an  annual  report;  to  manage 
the  distribution  of  state  aid,  and  to  manage  a  system 
of  traveling  libraries. 

Note. — Within  a  few  years  each  of  several  states  has  pro- 
vided for  a  state  library  commission,  to  be  in  some  sense  the 
head  ,of  the  public  library  system  of  the  state,  as  the  state 
board  of  education  is  the  head  of  the  public  school  system  of 
the  state.  By  having  small  traveling  libraries  of  50  or  icov. 
each,  to  lend  for  a  few  months  to  localities  that  have  no 
libraries,  and  by  having  a  little  state  aid  to  distribute  wisely, 
the  state  library  commission  is  able  to  encourage  communities 
to  do  more  for  themselves  in  a  library  way  than  they  other- 
wise would.  There  may  be  cases  where  the  work  of  the  com- 
mission might  better  be  centered  at  the  state  university  library. 
The  state  library  commission  has  proved  to  be  a  useful  agency 
wherever  tried,  and  the  plan  seems  likely  to  spread  through- 
out the  country.  In  Wyoming  the  income  from  30,000  acres 
of  state  land  forms  a  library  fund.  It  would  seem  probable 
that  other  states  will  adopt  this  plan.  By  far  the  most  com- 
plete and  successful  state  system  that  has  yet  been  organized 
is  that  of  New  York,  where  all  centers  in  the  state  library  at 
Albany  as  headquarters. 

Reading  matter  on  library  legislation 

The  report  of  the  United  States  commissioner  of  edu- 
cation for  1895-96  contains  a  compilation  of  the  library 
laws  of  all  the  states.  Every  year  new  laws  and  amend- 
ments are  enacted  in  several  of  the  states,  and  the 
advance  is  very  marked.  The  laws  of  New  York, 
Massachusetts,  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois  are  among 
the  best. 

Essentials  of  a  good  law 

The  three  most  essential  things  to  be  provided  for 
in  a  good  state  library  law  are: 

1  A  sure  and  steady  revenue. 

2  Careful  and  consecutive  management. 

3  A  central  library  authority. 

In  attempting  to  alter  or  make  new  laws,  these 
essentials  should  be  kept  clearly  in  mind,  but  special 


LIBRARY    LEGISLATION  159 

conditions  peculiar  to  each  state  dictate  modifications 
of  any  general  plan.  Anyone  interested  in  the  matter 
could  read  the  general  articles  upon  the  subject  and 
the  various  state  laws,  and  then,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  best  legal  talent  to  be  obtained,  frame  an  act 
appropriate  to  the  conditions  of  his  state. 


l6o  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XLV 

The  A.  L.  A.  and  other  library  associations  and  clubs,  and 
State  library  commissions 

The  American  Library  Association  was  organized 
in  1876,  It  holds  annual  meetings.  It  publishes  its 
proceedings  in  volumes,  of  which  those  now  in  print 
may  be  purchased  of  the  A.  L.  A.  Publishing  board, 
Public  Library,  i  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  or  of  the 
secretary.  It  seeks  in  every  practicable  way  to  develop 
and  strengthen  the  public  library  as  an  essential  part  of 
the  American  educational  system.  It  therefore  strives 
by  individual  effort  of  members,  and  where  practicable 
by  local  organization,  to  stimulate  public  interest  in 
establishing  or  improving  libraries,  and  thus  to  bring 
the  best  reading  within  reach  of  all. 

Librarians,  trustees,  and  persons  interested  may 
become  members;  the  annual  fee  is  $3  first  year,  $2 
thereafter.  Membership  entitles  one  to  a  copy  of  the 
proceedings;  it  has  now  about  1900  members. 

Every  person  actively  engaged  in  library  work  owes 
it  to  herself,  as  well  as  to  her  profession,  to  join  the 
American  Library  Association.  If  the  association  is 
large,  if  its  meetings  are  well  attended,  if  its  proceed- 
ings as  published  show  that  the  problems  of  library 
work  are  carefully  studied,  if  the  published  proceed- 
ings are  widely  circulated,  it  is  easier  to  persuade  the 
intelligent  part  of  the  public  that  the  librarian's  pro- 
fession is  serious,  dignified,  and  calls  to  its  member- 
ship men  and  women  of  ability  and  zeal.  If  the  public 


A.   L.  A.  AND    OTHER    LIBRARY    ASSOCIATIONS          l6l 

is  persuaded  of  these  things,  the  position  of  the 
humblest  as  well  as  of  the  highest  in  the  profession 
is  thereby  rendered  better  worth  the  holding.  To 
attend  diligently  to  one's  business  is  sometimes  a  most 
proper  form  of  advertising  one's  merits.  To  be  a 
zealous  and  active  member  of  the  A.  L.  A.  is  to  attend 
to  an  important  part  of  one's  business;  for  one  can't 
join  it  and  work  with  it  and  for  it  and  not  increase 
one's  efficiency  in  many  ways. 

State  associations  have  been  organized  in  the  follow- 
ing states:  Alabama,  California,  Colorado,  Connecticut, 
District  of  Columbia,  Florida,  Georgia,  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Iowa,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Mich- 
igan, Minnesota,  Missouri,  Montana,  Nebraska,  New 
Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  North  Carolina, 
North  Dakota,  Ohio,  Oklahoma,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania, 
Rhode  Island,  South  Dakota,  Tennessee,  Texas,  Ver- 
mont, Virginia,  Washington,  Wisconsin. 

The  following  cities  and  neighborhood  sections  have 
library  clubs:  Ann  Arbor,  Bay  Path  (So.  Mass.),  Buffalo, 
Cape  Cod,  Central  New  York,  Chicago,  Eastern  Maine, 
Fox  River  Valley  (Wis.),  Highland  (New  York),  Hudson 
River  (New  York),  Indianapolis,  Iowa  City,  Lake 
Country  (Western  New  York)  Long  Island,  Mohawk 
Valley  (New  York),  Monongahela  Valley  (Pa.),  New 
York  City,  Olean  District,  Pennsylvania  (Phila.),  South- 
ern Tier  (New  York),  Southern  Worcester,  Twin  City 
(Minneapolis  and  Saint  Paul),  Western  Massachusetts. 

The  following  states  have  state  library  commissions: 
Alabama,  California,  Colorado,  Connecticut,  Delaware, 
Georgia,  Idaho,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Mary- 
land, Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Missouri, 
Nebraska,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York, 


1 62  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

North  Dakota,  Ohio,  Oregon,   Pennsylvania,   Vermont, 
Washington,  Wisconsin. 

The  League  of  Library  Commissions,  affiliated  with 
the  A.  L.  A.,  includes  the  following  members: 
California  State  Library,  Jas.  L.  Gillis,  State  Librarian, 

Sacramento. 
Connecticut  Free  Public  Library  Committee,   Caroline 

M.  Hewins,  Secretary,  Hartford. 
Delaware  State  Library  Commission,  Thomas  W.  Wilson, 

Secretary,  Dover. 
Idaho  Free  Library  Commission,  S.  Belle  Chamberlain, 

Secretary,  Boise. 
Indiana  Public  Library  Commission,  Chalmers  Hadley, 

Secretary,  Indianapolis. 
Iowa   Library  Commission,   Alice   S.   Tyler,   Secretary, 

Des  Moines. 
Michigan  State  Board  of  Library  Commissioners,  Mrs. 

Mary  C.  Spencer,  Secretary,  Lansing. 
Minnesota  Public  Library  Commission,  Clara  F.  Baldwin, 

Secretary,  St.  Paul. 
Nebraska  Public  Library  Commission,  Charlotte  Tem- 

pleton,  Secretary,  Lincoln. 
New  Jersey  Public  Library  Commission,  H.  C.  Buchanan, 

Secretary,  Trenton. 

New  York  Education  Department,  Division  of  Educa- 
tional Extension,  W.  R.  Eastman,  Chief  of  Division, 

Albany. 
Ohio  Board  of  Library  Commissioners,  C.  B.  Galbreath, 

Secretary,  Columbus. 
Oregon   Public   Library  Commission,   Cornelia   Marvin, 

Secretary,  Salem. 

Pennsylvania  Free  Library  Commission,  Thos.  L.  Mont- 
gomery, Secretary,  Harrisburg. 


A.   L.  A.  AND    OTHER    LIBRARY    ASSOCIATIONS         163 

Vermont  Board  of  Library  Commissioners,  Miss  Frances 

Hobart,  Secretary,  Montpelier. 
Virginia  State  Library,  John  Pendleton  Kennedy,  State 

Librarian,  Richmond. 
Washington    State   Library   Commission,    J.    M.    Hitt, 

Secretary,  Olympia. 
Wisconsin  Free  Library  Commission,  Henry  E.  Legler, 

Secretary,  Madison. 

The  Secretary  is  Clara  F.  Baldwin,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 
An  inquiry  for  information  regarding  any  of  these 
associations  or  clubs,  addressed  to  any  librarian  in  the 
states  given,  will  receive  attention. 

Much  of  what  is  said  above  about  the  A.  L.  A. 
applies  with  equal  force  to  the  association  of  one's 
state  or  neighborhood.  Often,  moreover,  it  is  possible 
to  attend  a  state  association  meeting  at  small  expense 
of  time  or  money. 


164  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XLVI 

Library  schools  and  training  classes 

As  libraries  have  become  more  thoroughly  organ- 
ized, as  they  have  become  more  aggressive  in  their 
methods,  and  as  they  have  come  to  be  looked  upon  by 
librarians  and  others  as  possible  active  factors  in  educa- 
tional work,  the  proper  management  of  them  has 
naturally  been  found  to  require  experience  and  tech- 
nical knowledge  as  well  as  tact,  a  love  of  books,  and 
janitorial  zeal.  It  is  seen  that  the  best  librarians  are 
trained  as  well  as  born;  hence  the  library  school.  The 
library  school — a  list  of  those  now  in  operation  will  be 
found  at  the  end  of  this  chapter — does  not  confine 
itself  to  education  in  the  technical  details  of  library 
management.  It  aims  first  to  arouse  in  its  pupils  the 
"modern  library  spirit,"  the  wish,  that  is,  to  make 
the  library  an  institution  which  shall  help  its  owners, 
the  public,  to  become  happier  and  wiser,  and  adds  to 
this  work  what  it  can  of  knowledge  of  books,  their  use, 
their  housing,  and  their  helpful  arrangement.  Perhaps 
the  ideal  preparation  for  a  librarian  today  would  be, 
after  a  thorough  general  education,  two  or  three  years 
in  a  good  library  school  preceded  and  followed  by  a 
year  in  a  growing  library  of  moderate  size. 

A  few  libraries  have  tried  with  much  success  the 
apprentice  system  of  library  training,  taking  in  a  class, 
or  series  of  classes,  for  a  few  months  or  a  year,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  period  of  apprenticeship  selecting  from 
the  class  additions  to  its  regular  corps. 


LIBRARY    SCHOOLS     AND    TRAINING    CLASSES  165 

List  of  library  schools  and  training  classes 
New  York  state  library  school,  Albany;  New  York 
state  library  summer  school,  Albany;  Pratt  institute 
library  school,  Brooklyn;  Wisconsin  library  school, 
Madison;  Drexel  institute  library  school,  Philadelphia; 
University  of  Illinois  state  library  school,  Cham- 
paign ;  Simmons  college  library  training  school,  Boston ; 
Los  Angeles  public  library  training  class;  Carnegie 
library  of  Pittsburgh  training  school  for  children's 
librarians;  Syracuse  university  library  school;  Indiana 
library  school,  Indianapolis;  Indiana  summer  library 
school,  Richmond;  New  Jersey  summer  library  school, 
Asbury  Park;  Winona,  Ind.,  Technical  institute  library 
school;  Wisconsin  library  school,  Madison;  Carnegie 
library  of  Atlanta  training  school ;  Chautauqua  summer 
library  school,  Chautauqua;  Michigan  summer  school; 
Western  reserve  university  library  school,  Cleveland; 
Iowa  summer  library  school ;  Alabama  summer  library 
course;  Vermont  summer  library  institute,  Middlebury; 
Minnesota  summer  library  school;  University  of  Wash- 
ington summer  library  course. 


l66  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XLVII 

The  Library  department  of  the  N.  E.  A. 

The  Library  department  of  the  National  educational 
association  holds  meetings  annually  at  the  same  time 
and  place  with  the  N.  E.  A. 

The  National  educational  association  is  the  largest 
organized  body  of  members  of  the  teaching  profession 
in  the  world.  Its  annual  meetings  bring  together  from 
5000  to  15,000  teachers  of  every  grade,  from  the  kinder- 
garten to  the  university.  It  includes  a  number  of 
departments,  each  devoted  to  a  special  branch  of  edu- 
cational work.  The  Library  department  was  estab- 
lished in  1897.  It  has  held  successful  meetings.  It  is 
doing  much  to  bring  together  librarians  and  teachers. 
It  is  arousing  much  interest  in  the  subject  of  the  use 
of  books  by  young  people,  briefly  touched  on  in  the 
later  chapters  of  this  book. 

Following  the  example  of  the  N.  E.  A.,  many  state 
and  county  associations  of  teachers  throughout  the 
country  have  established  library  departments.  At  these 
are  discussed  the  many  aspects  of  such  difficult  and  as 
yet  unanswered  questions  as:  What  do  children  most 
like  to  read?  How  interest  them  in  reading?  What 
is  the  best  reading  for  them? 


YOUNG    PEOPLE    AND    THE    SCHOOLS  167 


CHAPTER  XLVIII 

Young  people  and  the  schools 

If  possible  give  the  young  people  a  reading  room 
of  their  own,  and  a  room  in  which  are  their  own  par- 
ticular books.  These  special  privileges  will  not  bar 
them  from  the  general  use  of  the  library.  Make  no 
age  limit  in  issuing  borrowers'  cards.  A  child  old  enough 
to  know  the  use  of  books  is  old  enough  to  borrow  them, 
and  to  begin  that  branch  of  its  education  which  a 
library  only  can  give.  The  fact  that  a  child  is  a  regular 
attendant  at  school  is  in  itself  almost  sufficient  guar- 
antee for  giving  him  a  borrower's  card.  Certainly  this 
fact,  in  addition  to  the  signature  of  parent,  guardian, 
or  adult  friend,  even  if  the  signer  does  not  come  to 
the  library,  will  be  guarantee  enough. 

Teachers  should  be  asked  to  help  in  persuading 
children  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  library,  and 
then  to  make  good  use  of  it  To  get  this  help  from 
teachers  is  not  easy.  They  are  generally  fully  occupied 
with  keeping  their  pupils  up  to  the  required  scholar- 
ship mark.  They  have  no  time  to  look  after  outside 
matters. 

Visits  to  teachers  and  children  in  their  schoolrooms 
by  librarian  or  assistant  will  often  be  found  helpful. 
Informal  talks  to  the  children  about  the  library  and 
some  of  its  books  will  do  much  to  arouse  interest  among 
children, — and  teachers  as  well.  Lists  of  books  adapted 
to  schoolroom  use,  both  for  the  teacher  and  for  pupils, 
are  good,  but  are  very  little  used  when  offered,  unless 


1 68  A    LIPRARY    PRIMER 

followed  up  by  personal  work.  Brief  statements  of 
what  the  library  can  do  and  would  like  to  do  in  the 
way  of  helping  on  the  educational  work  of  the  com- 
munity will  be  read  by  the  occasional  teacher.  Teachers 
can  often  be  interested  in  a  library  through  the  interest 
in  it  of  the  children  themselves.  The  work  of  getting 
young  people  to  come  to  the  library  and  enjoy  its 
books  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  work  of  per- 
suading teachers  to  interest  children  in  the  library. 
It  is  not  enough  to  advertise  the  library's  advantages 
in  the  papers,  or  to  send  to  teachers  a  printed  state- 
ment that  they  are  invited  and  urged  to  use  the  institu- 
tion; nor  is  it  enough  to  visit  them  and  say  that  the 
books  in  the  library  are  at  their  service.  These  facts 
must  be  demonstrated  by  actual  practice  on  every 
possible  opportunity.  A  teacher  who  goes  to  a  library 
and  finds  its  privileges  much  hedged  about  with  rules 
and  regulations  will  perhaps  use  it  occasionally,  cer- 
tainly not  often.  Appropriate  books  should  be  put 
directly  into  their  hands,  the  educational  work  of  this, 
that,  and  the  other  teacher  should  be  noted,  and  their 
attention  called  to  the  new  books  which  touch  their 
particular  fields. 

Teachers'  cards  can  be  provided  which  will  give  to 
holders  special  privileges.  It  is  a  question,  however, 
if  such  a  system  is  necessary  or  worth  while.  Under 
the  charging  system  already  described  any  teacher  can 
be  permitted  to  take  away  as  many  books  as  she  wishes, 
and  a  record  of  them  can  be  easily  and  quickly  made. 
To  give  "teachers'  cards,"  with  accompanying  priv- 
ileges, is  to  limit  to  some  extent  the  rights  of  all  others. 
Teachers  may  very  often  properly  receive  special  atten- 
tion, but  these  special  attentions  or  favors  should  be 


YOUNG    PEOPLE    AND    THE    SCHOOLS  169 

offered  without  proclaiming  the  fact  to  the  rest  of  the 
community.  Many  cannot  see  why  a  teacher  should 
receive  favors  not  granted  to  all. 

Take  special  pains  to  show  children  the  use  of  the 
catalog,  indexes,  and  indeed  of  all  sorts  of  reference 
books ;  they  will  soon  be  familiar  with  them  and  handle 
them  like  lifelong  students.  Gain  the  interest  of  teach- 
ers in  this  sort  of  work,  and  urge  them  to  bring  their 
classes  and  make  a  study  of  your  reference  books. 


1 70  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  XLIX 
How  the  library  can  assist  the  school 

Channing    Folsom,    superintendent    of    schools,     Dover,     N.     H.,    in    Public 
Libraries,  May,  1898 

We  have  to  consider  the  teacher,  the  school,  the 
pupil,  the  home.  The  teacher  is  likely  to  be  conserva- 
tive; to  have  fallen  into  ruts;  to  be  joined  to  his  idols; 
to  make  the  text-book  a  fetish;  to  teach  a  particular 
book  rather  than  the  subject,  so  that  the  initiative  in 
works  of  cooperation  must  come  from  the  library  side. 

If,  then,  the  library  is  equally  conservative,  if  the 
librarian  and  the  trustees  look  upon  their  books  as 
too  sacred  or  too  precious  to  be  handled  by  boys  and 
girls,  the  desired  cooperation  will  never  be  attained. 

In  beginning  the  desired  work  the  librarian  must 
have  a  well-defined  idea  of  what  is  to  be  done  and 
how.  There  should  be  a  well-defined  line  of  differentia- 
tion between  material  which  the  school  should  furnish 
and  that  properly  belonging  to  the  library  province. 

Of  course  all  text-books,  all  supplementary  reading 
matter  for  classroom  use,  all  ordinary  reference  books, 
should  be  furnished  by  the  school  authorities.  But  the 
more  extensive  and  the  more  expensive  dictionaries, 
gazetteers,  cyclopedias,  and  books  for  topical  reference 
cannot  be  so  furnished.  If  they  are  to  be  used  by 
public  school  pupils,  the  library  must  supply  them, 
and  make  access  to  them  as  easy  and  as  pleasant  as 
possible. 

It  is  within  the  scope  of  the  library  to  improve  the 
taste  in  reading  among  the  pupils  of  the  schools  by 


HOW    THE    LIBRARY    CAN    ASSIST    THE    SCHOOL        iyi 

compiling  lists  of  the  best  books  upon  the  shelves,  and 
distributing  these  lists  to  the  pupils.  Such  lists  may 
be  classified  as  suitable  to  different  grades  or  ages,  or 
by  subjects,  as,  History  of  different  countries  or  epochs, 
Biography,  Travels,  Nature  work,  Fiction,  etc. 

The  possible  good  that  may  be  achieved  in  this  way 
is  immeasurable.  Although,  according  to  Dogberry,  to 
write  and  read  comes  by  nature,  we  must  remember 
that  a  taste  for  good  reading  is  not  innate  but  acquired, 
and  that  it  is  not  ordinarily  acquired  under  unfavorable 
conditions.  To  ensure  the  acquirement  of  this  taste 
by  the  child,  good  reading  must  be  made  as  accessible 
as  the  bad,  the  librarian  and  the  teacher  must  con- 
spire to  put  good  reading,  interesting  reading,  elevating 
reading  in  his  way.  The  well-read  person  is  an  educated 
person.  The  taste  for  good  reading  once  acquired  is 
permanent.  There  is  little  danger  of  backsliding.  It 
grows  with  indulgence.  One  writer  says:  No  man 
having  once  tasted  good  food  or  good  wine,  or  even 
good  tobacco,  ever  voluntarily  turns  to  an  inferior 
article.  So  with  our  reading  habits;  a  taste  for  good 
reading  once  acquired  becomes  a  joy  forever. 

Teachers  do  not  realize,  as  does  the  librarian,  the 
low  tone  of  the  reading  taste  of  the  community.  When 
they  fully  understand  this,  together  with  the  fact  that 
the  acquirement  of  a  reading  habit  and  a  love  for 
good  literature  are  largely  dependent,  in  a  majority  of 
cases,  upon  the  public  school  training,  then  will  the 
librarian  have  to  bestir  himself  to  supply  the  demand 
for  good  books  made  by  the  school. 

The  habit  thus  formed,  the  taste  thus  acquired, 
will  be  of  infinitely  more  value  to  them  than  the  infor- 
mation gained.  The  latter  may  soon  be  forgotten,  the 


172  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

former  will  stay  with  them  through  life;  but  the  influ- 
ence of  good  books  taken  into  the  homes  of  our  school 
children,  from  the  library  or  from  the  school,  does  not 
stop  with  the  children  themselves.  It  is  impossible  that 
such  books  should  go  into  even  an  ignorant,  uncouth, 
unlettered  family  without  exerting  an  elevating  and 
refining  influence. 

Thus  the  school  opens  to  the  library  the  broadest 
field  for  doing  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number, 
the  shortest  avenue  to  the  masses. 

But  the  consciousness  of  good  done  will  not  be  the 
only  reward  for  the  library.  The  reflex  action  upon 
the  library  of  this  intimate  connection  with  the  school 
will  be  highly  beneficial.  A  generation  will  grow  up 
trained  to  associate  the  library  and  the  school  as  instru- 
mentalities of  public  education,  demanding  alike  its 
moral  and  financial  support,  a  generation  that  in  town 
meetings  and  in  city  councils  will  advocate  generous 
appropriations  for  the  public  library  as  well  as  for  the 
public  school. 

Thus,  your  bread  cast  upon  the  waters  shall  return 
unto  you  after  many  days. 


CHILDREN'S  ROOM  173 

CHAPTER  L 
Children's  room 

In  recent  years  a  number  of  the  larger  libraries  of 
the  country  have  given  up  a  portion  of  the  delivery 
room,  or  a  separate  room  entire,  to  the  use  of  children. 
All  of  these  special  arrangements  for  children  thus  far 
reported  have  been  successful.  The  plan  that  seems  to 
give  the  greatest  satisfaction,  is  to  place  in  a  room 
opening  from  the  delivery  room,  and  perhaps  forming 
in  effect  a  part  of  it,  the  books  in  the  library  especially 
adapted  to  the  use  of  young  people  up  to  about  14 
years  of  age.  Such  of  these  books  as  are  not  fiction  are 
classified  as  closely  as  are  the  books  in  the  main  part 
of  the  library,  and  are  arranged  by  their  numbers  on 
the  shelves. 

In  this  room  the  children  have  free  access  to  the 
shelves.  An  attendant  in  charge  gives  special  atten- 
tion to  the  wants  of  the  young  visitors,  and  as  far  as 
possible  gives  guidance  in  the  selection  and  instruc- 
tion in  the  use  of  the  books.  A  collection  of  reference 
books  adapted  to  young  people  is  sometimes  added  to 
the  books  which  circulate. 

Even  in  the  very  small  library  a  corner  for  young 
people  will  usually  be  found  an  attractive  and  useful 
feature.  It  draws  the  young  folks  away  from  the  main 
collection,  where  their  presence  sometimes  proves  an 
annoyance.  It  does  not  at  all  prevent  the  use,  by  the 
younger  readers,  of  the  books  of  the  elders  if  they  wish 
to  use  them,  and  it  makes  much  easier  some  slight 
supervision,  at  least,  of  the  former's  reading. 


174  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  LI 

Schoolroom  libraries 

"Schoolroom  library"  is  the  term  commonly  applied 
to  a  small  collection,  usually  about  50 v.,  of  books  placed 
on  an  open  shelf  in  a  schoolroom.  In  a  good  many 
communities  these  libraries  have  been  purchased  and 
owned  by  the  board  of  education,  or  the  school  author- 
ities, whoever  they  may  be.  If  they  are  the  property 
of  the  school  board  they  commonly  remain  in  the  school- 
room in  which  they  are  placed.  As  the  children  in  that 
room  are  changed  each  year,  and  as  the  collections 
selected  for  the  different  grades  are  usually  different, 
the  child  as  he  passes  through  the  rooms  comes  into 
close  contact  with  a  new  collection  each  year.  There 
are  some  advantages  in  having  the  ownership  and  con- 
trol of  these  libraries  remain  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
the  school  board  and  the  superintendent.  The  library, 
however,  is  generally  the  place  in  the  community  in 
which  is  to  be  found  the  greatest  amount  of  informa- 
tion about  books  in  general,  the  purchasing  of  them, 
the  proper  handling  of  them  in  fitting  them  for  the 
shelves,  cataloging,  binding,  etc.,  and  the  selection  of 
those  best  adapted  to  young  people.  It  is  quite  appro- 
priate, therefore,  that,  as  is  in  many  cities  the  case, 
the  public  library  should  supply  the  schools  with  these 
schoolroom  libraries  from  its  own  shelves,  buying  there- 
for special  books 'and  often  many  copies  of  the  same 
book. 

If   schoolroom   libraries   do   come   from   the   public 


SCHOOLROOM    LIBRARIES  175 

library,  they  can  with  very  little  difficulty  be  changed 
several  times  during  the  school  year.  With  a  little 
care  on  the  part  of  the  librarian  and  teachers,  the  col- 
lection of  any  given  room  can  be  by  experience  and 
observation  better  and  better  adapted  to  the  children 
in  that  room  as  time  goes  on. 

There  are  many  ways  of  using  the  schoolroom 
library.  The  books  forming  it  should  stand  on  open 
shelves  accessible  to  the  pupils  whenever  the  teacher 
gives  permission.  They  may  be  lent  to  the  children 
to  take  home.  Thus  used  they  often  lead  both  chil- 
dren and  parents  to  read  more  and  better  books  than 
before,  and  to  use  the  larger  collections  of  the  public 
library.  They  may  be  used  for  collateral  reading  in 
the  schoolroom  itself.  Some  of  them  may  be  read 
aloud  by  the  teacher.  They  may  serve  as  a  reference 
library  in  connection  with  topics  in  history,  geography, 
science,  and  other  subjects. 

Wherever  introduced  these  libraries  have  been 
very  successful. 


1 76  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  LII 

Children's  home  libraries 

In  a  few  cities  the  following  plan  for  increasing  the 
amount  of  good  reading  among  the  children  of  the 
poorer  and  less  educated  has  been  tried  with  great 
success.  It  is  especially  adapted  to  communities  which 
are  quite  distant  from  the  public  library  or  any  of  its 
branches.  It  is,  as  will  be  seen,  work  which  is  in  the 
spirit  of  the  college  settlement  plan.  The  "home 
libraries,"  if  they  do  no  more,  serve  as  a  bond  of  com- 
mon interest  between  the  children  and  their  parents, 
and  the  persons  who  wish  to  add  to  their  lives  some- 
thing of  interest  and  good  cheer.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
they  do  more  than  this.  They  lead  not  a  few  to  use 
the  library  proper,  and  they  give  to  at  least  a  few 
boys  and  girls  an  opportunity  for  self-education  such 
as  no  other  institution  yet  devised  can  offer. 

A  home  library  is  a  small  collection  of  books,  usually 
only  15  or  20,  with  one  or  two  young  folks'  periodicals, 
put  up  in  a  box  with  locked  cover.  The  box  is  so 
made  that  it  will  serve  as  a  bookcase  and  can  be  hung 
on  a  wall  or  stood  on  the  floor  or  a  table.  In  the 
neighborhood  in  which  it  is  to  be  placed  a  group  of 
four  or  five  children  is  found — or  perhaps  a  father  or 
a  mother — who  will  agree  to  look  after  the  books.  To 
one  of  these,  called  the  librarian,  is  given  the  key  of 
the  box,  and  the  box  itself  is  placed  in  the  spot  selected ; 
perhaps  a  hallway  or  a  living  room.  Under  a  few  very 
simple  regulations  the  librarian  lends  the  books  in  the 


CHILDREN  S    HOME    LIBRARIES  177 

home  library  to  the  young  people  of  the  neighborhood. 
If  the  experiment  is  successful  the  first  set  of  books  is 
changed  for  another,  and  the  work  continues.  Or  per- 
haps the  library  is  enlarged;  and  perhaps  even  grows 
into  a  permanent  institution. 


178  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  LIH 
Literary  clubs  and  libraries 

Evva  L.  Moore,  Withers'  public  library 
[Public  Libraries,  June,  1897] 

In  your  community  are  a  number  of  literary  clubs; 
if  there  are  not,  it  lies  within  the  power  of  the  librarian 
to  create  them:  an  evening  club  composed  of  men 
and  women;  a  woman's  club  for  the  study  of  house- 
hold economics;  a  young  people's  club  for  the  study 
of  music  or  some  literary  topic;  a  club  for  young  men 
in  which  to  study  sociology;  a  novel  club  for  the  study 
of  the  world's  great  fiction.  For  constitutions  suitable 
for  such  clubs,  account  of  administration,  organization, 
etc.,  consult  the  Extension  bulletin  no.  n  of  the  uni- 
versity of  the  state  of  New  York,  and  Bulletin  no.  i, 
June,  1896,  of  the  Michigan  State  library,  List  of  books 
for  women  and  girls  and  their  clubs, — and  files  of  old 
club  programs. 

The  study  club  is  one  of  the  best  means  of  extend- 
ing the  influence  of  your  library ;  of  securing  the  atten- 
tion and  hold  of  the  people.  It  awakens  thought, 
arouses  discussions,  puts  into  circulation  books  which 
otherwise  might  stand  idle  on  the  shelves. 

It  is  necessary  to  watch  carefully  the  courses  of 
study  of  the  different  clubs,  and  to  do  this  the  pro- 
grams must  be  on  file  in  the  library.  If  they  are  printed 
(and  encourage  this)  so  much  the  better;  if  in  manu- 
script they  can  be  used  with  small  inconvenience. 

If  the   program   is   prepared   week   by   week   only, 


LITERARY    CLUBS    AND    LIBRARIES  179 

make  arrangements  to  have  it  sent  immediately  to  the 
library;  also  watch  your  local  paper  for  notices. 

Advertise  the  library  to  each  club  at  the  program- 
making  season  by  means  of  a  circular  letter  or  postal. 
Ask  for  the  year's  program  and  offer  assistance.  Attend 
meetings  and  get  acquainted  with  club  members. 

Each  month  publish  in  the  newspapers  timely  lists 
of  books  on  the  topics  to  be  discussed  by  the  clubs. 

Make  a  card  index  of  club  programs  as  they  are 
received,  entering  the  name  of  the  club,  name  and 
address  of  the  secretary  and  the  topic  or  topics  to  be 
studied.  These  should  be  consulted  frequently  so  that 
notices  may  be  sent  when  new  books  or  magazine  articles 
on  the  same  subject  come  to  the  library. 

Encourage  the  officers  of  clubs  to  come  to  you  for 
suggestions  when  arranging  courses  of  study,  and  make 
known  to  them  the  resources  of  the  library  on  the 
subject  in  hand.  This  is  the  time  to  fill  gaps  in  the 
library's  collections. 

Suggestions  and  assistance  on  program  making  may 
be  obtained  from  the  two  bulletins  mentioned  above, 
as,  in  addition  to  information  as  to  organization,  they 
contain  outlines  of  study.  The  Wisconsin  and  Iowa 
State  Library  Commissions  publish  study  outlines. 
The  Information  Bureau  of  the  General  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs  also  furnishes  programs  and  sugges- 
tions for  club  work. 

Harper's  bazaar  devotes  a  page  each  week  to  club 
women  and  club  work.  University-extension  bulletins 
and  courses  of  study  offer  numerous  suggestions. 

The  clubs  of  smaller  towns  in  your  neighborhood 
should  have  your  encouragement  and  assistance.  Lend 
all  the  books  that  you  can  spare  on  as  easy  terms  as 


_r8o  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 

are  compatible  with  your  rules;  in  short,  institute 
traveling  libraries  on  a  small  scale.  When  possible 
issue  inter-library  loans  and  lend  to  libraries  instead 
of  to  individuals.  The  small  library  thus  becomes  an 
agent  of  more  importance  in  its  community  and  is 
accordingly  benefited. 


MUSEUMS,    LECTURES,    ETC.  l8l 


CHAPTER  LIV 
Museums,  lectures,  etc. 

A  museum  in  connection  with  the  library,  either 
historical  or  scientific,  or  an  art  gallery,  may  be  made 
a  source  of  attraction,  and  of  much  educational  value. 
The  collecting  of  antiquities,  or  natural  history  speci- 
mens, or  rare  bindings,  or  ancient  books  or  manu- 
scripts, is  generally  taken  up  by  societies  organized 
for  such  purposes.  The  library  should  try  to  bring 
these  collections  into  such  relations  with  itself  as  to 
add  to  its  own  attractiveness,  and  to  make  more  inter- 
esting and  instructive  the  collections. 

A  library  can  often  very  happily  advertise  itself, 
and  encourage  the  use  of  its  books,  by  establishing  a 
series  of  lectures.  Exhibits  of  the  library's  treasures 
in  the  library  itself,  will  often  add  to  the  institution's 
popularity,  and  will  always  afford  a  good  excuse  for 
sending  to  leading  people  in  the  community  a  note 
reminding  them  of  the  library's  existence  and  perhaps 
of  its  needs. 


182  A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


CHAPTER  LV 
Rules  for  the  care  of  photographs 

Henry  W.  Kent,  Slater  museum,  Norwich,  Conn. 

I.     Accessioning 

The  accession  book  should  be  ruled  in  columns  under 
the  following  headings: 

A,  Accession  number;  B,  Author;  C,  Title;  D,  Gallery; 
E,  Photographer  and  place  of  publication;  F,  Date  of 
publication;  G,  Photographer's  number;  H,  Process;  I, 
Size  of  print;  J,  Size  of  mount;  K,  Cost;  L,  Cost  of 
mounting;  M,  Remarks. 

A  Accession  number.  The  consecutive  Museum 
number  to  be  either  written  or  printed.  This  column 
should  be  used  to  give  the  date  of  accession. 

B  Author.  For  photographs  of  paintings  give  one 
important  name. 

For  photographs  of  sculpture  give  sculptor's  name, 
where  known. 

For  photographs  of  architecture  give  name  of  city 
followed  by  country  in  parentheses.  London  (Eng.) 

C  Title.  For  photographs  of  painting  and  sculpture 
use  short,  catch  title,  bringing,  where  possible,  the 
important  name  first. 

For  photographs  of  architecture,  make  first  word  a 
word  descriptive  of  the  kind  of  building:  Temple  of 
Mars;  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame;  Basilica  of  S.  Paolo. 

D  Gallery.  This  column  is  used  for  sculpture  and 
painting  only.  Enter  official  name  of  gallery  under 
name  of  city,  followed  by  country  in  parentheses,  and 


RULES  FOR  THE  CARE  OF  PHOTOGRAPHS      183 

separated  by  hyphen:  London  (Eng.)-National  Gallery; 
Paris  (France)-Louvre. 

E  Photographer  and  place  of  publication.  Use  the 
last  name  of  publisher,  followed  by  name  of  city  abbre- 
viated. Alinari,  Fio.;  Braun,  Pa.;  Hanfstaengl,  Miin. 

F  Date.  The  high  grade  photographs  have  the 
date  of  their  publication  on  the  mount. 

0  Publisher's   number.     To   be  found  on  all  prints. 
H  Process.     State  whether  silver  print,  platinotype, 

carbon  (give  color  b.  for  black,  br.  for  brown,  g.  for 
gray),  autotype,  collotype,  etc. 

1  Size  of  print.     Give    size    in    centimeters,   giving 
width  first. 

J  Size  of  mount.     Use  the  following  notation: 

F  for  size  measuring  22x28  inches,  and  upwards. 

Q  for  size  measuring  18x22  inches  up  to  22x28. 

O  for  size  measuring  14x18  inches  up  to  18x22. 

D  for  all  sizes  under  O. 

K  Cost.  Give  cost  of  imported  prints  in  foreign 
money;  give  total  of  bill  in  American  money. 

L  Cost  of  mounting. 

M  Remarks.  This  column  will  be  found  useful  for 
date  of  remounting  prints. 

Enter  all  prints  in  the  order  of  the  publisher's  bill. 

Write  the  accession  number  on  the  back  of  mount 
(see  under  Labeling)  and  on  author  card. 

II.    Card  cataloging 

Photographs  of  paintings  and  sculpture  should  be 
entered  under  the  following  heads:  A,  Author,  B, 
Title,  C,  Gallery,  D,  School  of  painter  or  sculptor. 

Use  Library  Bureau  card,  no.  33r. 

A  Author    card.      This     should     show,    a,    author's 


184 


A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


name,  dates  of  birth  and  death,  and  school;  b,  Title 
of  work;  c,  Kind  of  work;  d,  Gallery;  e,  Imprint;  f, 
Accession  number;  g,  Classification  or  storage  number. 
Aa  Enter  author  on  first  blue  line  between  red 
lines,  under  his  best  known  name,  even  if  a  nickname, 
giving  full  name  with  nicknames  and  their  translations 


1  IQ 


("Oione 


II.  ((ri 


rornn 


n. 


Painting  card;  author,  with  full  name  to  precede  list  of  words. 

after  it,  in  parentheses.  Give  dates  of  birth  and  death 
in  parentheses,  followed  by  name  of  the  school  to  which 
the  artist  belonged.  Make  cross-references  from  all 
forms  under  which  the  author  might  be  looked  for. 

(It  will  be  found  convenient  to  give  all  this  data  on  one 
card,  to  precede  the  list  of  the  artist's  works,  using  on  all 
following  cards  the  first,  or  well-known  name,  only.) 

Ab  Write  the  title  on  second  blue  line,  at  the  right 
of  red  lines.  Make  it  as  brief  as  possible,  using  the 


LTJO 


G43H 


Painting  card;  author,  showing  title  of  work,  kind  of  work,  gallery,  etc. 


RULES  FOR  THE  CARE  OF  PHOTOGRAPHS 


'85 


important  name  in  it,  first.  Christ,  Baptism  of;  Christ, 
Betrayal  of;  Virgin  Mary,  Coronation  of;  St.  John, 
Birth  of;  St.  Peter,  Martyrdom  of. 

Ac  Indicate  after  the  title  whether  it  is  an  easel- 
picture,  fresco,  statue,  relief,  or  a  part  of  a  larger  work. 

Ad  Give  on  fourth  blue  line,  at  left  of  red  lines, 
the  official  name  of  gallery,  preceded  by  city,  with 
country  in  parentheses.  London  (Eng.)-National 
Gallery. 

Ae  Give  the  imprint  on  fifth  blue  line,  beginning 
at  the  right  of  red  lines:  name  of  photographer,  place 
of  publication,  date,  number  of  print,  process,  size  of 
print  in  cm.,  bottom  by  height. 

B  Title  card.  This  card  should  show,  a,  Title,  b, 
Author. 


riolu  Ramilij  .                         JP.P. 

Sum 

k_                (                       n«rerv..r/A].PJlMrUffm 

Q-r,«h 

jionfi  |  .                               Venice  (It}-  Pab«obi«iu(*lk 

ihirl 

jftftaio.  1.                          Florence  (//J-kLa^iLJfftVL. 

o 

B 

x_x^ 

Painting  card;  title,  with  different  authors  and  galleries. 

Ba  Give  on  first  blue  line,  beginning  at  the  left  of 
red  lines,  a  full  title,  but  as  in  Ab  make  the  important 
name  or  word  the  first  word.  Christ,  Baptism  of; 
Christ,  Betrayal  of;  St.  John,  Birth  of;  Portrait  of 
Pope  Julius. 

Bb  Give  on  second  blue  line,  between  red  lines, 
the  one  well  known  or  important  author's  name;  the 
first  one  used  in  Aa. 


i86 


A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


The  title  card  becomes  in  most  cases  a  series  card, 
since  the  title  of  an  often-represented  subject  attracts 
to  itself  many  names  of  artists.  In  such  cases  arrange 
the  authors'  names  alphabetically,  in  columns,  and 
against  them  write  the  names  of  the  galleries  where 
the  works  are  to  be  found.  Give  class  and  author 
number  in  blue  ink  at  the  left. 

C  Gallery  card.  This  card  is  a  series  card,  and 
should  show,  a,  name  of  gallery;  b,  names  of  the  artists 
and  their  works  in  the  gallery. 

Ca  Give  official  name  of  gallery  preceded  by  the 
name  of  the  city  where  it  is  located,  with  country  in 
parentheses. 

Cb  Enter  alphabetically,  names  of  authors,  with 
the  title  of  their  works,  one  author  to  a  line.  Give 
at  the  left,  classification  numbers  in  blue  ink. 


Painting  card;  gallery,  with  authors  and  titles  of  works. 


D  School  card.  This  should  show  under  the  names 
American,  English,  French,  German,  Italian-Florentine, 
Italian- Venetian,  Italian-Umbrian,  Italian-Parmesan, 


RULES  FOR  THE  CARE  OF  PHOTOGRAPHS 


i87 


Spanish,  etc.,  all  the  artists  of  the  school  arranged 
alphabetically,  with  the  number  of  their  works  written 
in,  in  pencil. 


Painting  card;  school,   all  authors  of  school  arranged  alphabetically  with 
number  of  works  written  in  pencil. 


Photographs  of  Architecture  should  be  cataloged 
according  to  the  foregoing  rules,  except  in  the  follow- 
ing cases: 

Author  card.  For  author,  give  the  name  of  the 
city  where  the  building  or  detail  is  found,  followed  by 
the  country  in  parentheses. 

For  title  make  the  first  word  descriptive  of  the 
kind  of  building,  and  after  the  name  of  the  building 
give  the  point  from  which  the  view  was  taken,  affixed 
to  the  words  interior  or  exterior:  Temple  of  Zeus, 
Exterior  from  the  east.  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame, 
Interior  of  nave  looking  east 

Instead  of  gallery,  give  style  of  building,  using  words 
Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Greek,  Roman,  Byzantine,  Roman- 
esque, Gothic,  Renaissance.  Modern,  etc.,  followed  by 
adjective  indicating  country. 

Imprint  the  same. 


l88  A     LIBRARY    PRIMER 

Gallery  card  will  not  be  needed. 


Architecture  card;  author,  showing  place,  kind  of  building,  and  style. 

For  school  card  use  S  style  card. 

Style  card.  This  should  show  all  photographs 
arranged  by  cities,  under  styles,  under  general  term 
Architecture. 

Architecture,  Gothic — Italian. 
Architecture,  Gothic — Spanish. 
Architecture,  Gothic — English,  perpendicular. 
Architecture,  Gothic— English,  pointed. 


Architecture  card;  style,  showing  place,  etc. 

The  cards  for  the  three  divisions,  architecture, 
painting,  and  sculpture,  should  be  kept  in  separate 
alphabets. 


RULES  FOR  THE  CARE  OF  PHOTOGRAPHS     189 

III.     Classification 

Arrange  ihe  photographs  of  sculpture  and  paint- 
ing alphabetically  by  authors  where  known;  where 
not  known,  by  subjects  under  the  various  sizes. 

Arrange  the  photographs  of  architecture  alpha- 
betically by  cities,  under  the  sizes. 

Indicate  the  arrangement  on  cards  by  two  numbers, 
in  blue  ink:  the  Classification  number  and  the  Author 
number. 

Classification  number.  This  is  indicated  by  the 
letters  F,  Q,  O,  D. 

Author  number.  Use  the  C.  A.  Cutter  Letter 
alphabetic-order  table  for  book  authors,  and  add  to 
the  number  so  gained  the  first  one  or  two  letters  (as 
the  number  of  prints  may  require)  of  the  title  of  the 
print;  or  the  numerals  1,2,  and  3  may  be  used. 

Write  these  two  numbers  in  blue  ink  on  the  cards, 
as  follows: 

Author  card.  Class  number  on  the  first  line  of 
upper  left-hand  corner;  author  number  below  it. 

On  other  cards.  Write  at  the  left  of  first  red  line 
the  two  numbers  on  one  line  separated  by  a  hyphen. 

IV.     Labeling 

Give  author's  name  in  full,  with  dates,  in  parentheses, 
and  school,  beginning  directly  under  left-hand  corner 
of  print. 

Give  title,  same  as  on  title  card,  only  reversing  the 
form,  beginning  under  the  middle  of  print  and  run- 
ning out  to  the  right-hand  corner. 

Some  collections  have  more  or  less  descriptive  matter 
on  the  mount,  but  this  is  to  be  discouraged. 


I  QO 


A    LIBRARY    PRIMER 


Give  the  Gallery  or  Style  at  lower  left-hand  corner 
of  mount  i  inch  from  either  edge.  Use  waterproof  or 
India  ink  in  all  cases. 


GciorgiontH  11477-1511,-Venetian.  Holy  FmmUu. 


\ 


Venice.  (It)  Palazzo  GiovantMi 


Showing  proper  method  of  entering  descriptive  matter  on  mounted 
photographs. 


Stamp  name  of  collection  with  rubber  stamp  on 
back  of  mount  in  upper  left-hand  corner,  i^  inches 
from  upper  and  side  edges. 

The  stamp  should  give  full  name  and  place  of 
museum  or  library,  leaving  room  above  for  class  and 
author  number,  and  below  for  accession  number. 


Class 


Author 


Slater  Memorial  Museum, 

Norwich,  Conn. 
No.  - 


RULES  FOR  THE  CARE  OF  PHOTOGRAPHS     IQl 

V.     Storage 

Store  sizes  Q,  O,  and  D,  in  drawers  of  a  cabinet, 
which  may  be  easily  removed  to  table,  or  in  pigeon- 
holes; stand  the  mounts  on  long  edges,  with  backs 
to  the  front,  so  that  classification  and  author  numbers 
may  be  easily  seen  in  turning  them  over. 

Store  size  F  in  drawers,  but  lying  flat.  These  should 
be  taken  out  of  the  drawer  and  laid  on  a  table  when 
being  handled.  The  drawers  for  the  smaller  sizes 
should  be  box-shaped,  with  sides  cut  down  somewhat 
to  allow  the  prints  to  be  easily  turned.  Those  for  the 
large  size  should  have  no  front,  but  the  case  contain- 
ing them  should  have  doors. 

NOTE. — Be  very  careful  in  handling  photographs  never  to 
rub  or  pull  one  over  another:  always  turn  them  from  side  to 
side,  like  the  leaves  of  a  book. 


INDEX 


Accession  book,  36,  82;  for 
photographs,  182;  sample 
page,  81;  no  longer  used, 
82-83. 

Accession  number  for  photo- 
graphs. 182;  in  accession 
book,  81-82;  on  shelf  list. 
83,  99;  on  catalog  cards,  i  o  i . 

Accessioning  photographs, 
182-183. 

Additions,  lists  of,  100,  122. 

^  a  library,   10-11, 
140.  168,  181. 

e  to  a  librarian,  i  ;  : 

Age  limit  for  borrowers. 
.ts,  see  Book  dealt 

Agreement    blanks,    36,    i  -'  7 
129. 

arrangement, 

dictionary  catalog.  103,  109; 
for  photographs.  188-189. 

Alphabets,  74;  sj>ecimen  page, 
76. 

Amendments  to  rules  of  library 
board,  1*3. 

American   library  associ 

fee,  1 60;  members,  160;  160— 
16 1 ;  objects,  160;  publica- 
tions of,  33- 

Ancient    manuscripts,    collec- 
ts, 181. 

Annual  index,  60. 

Annual  report.  154. 

Antiquities,  collections,  181. 

Appointment  of  librarian,  18, 
20,  23,  25. 

Appointment  of  library  as- 
sistants, 18. 

Appointment  of  trustees.  150. 

Apprentice  classes,  164. 

Architecture  card,  author 
style.    iSS:   title.    187. 

Art  entertainments.  137. 


Art  galleries,  181. 

Assistant  librarian,  duties  of, 

Associations,  see  Library  asso- 
ciations. 

Author  card,  101;  for  archi- 
tecture, 187-188;  for  paint- 
ing and  sculpture.  183-185. 

Author  catalog,   101—102. 

Author-I:  ji. 

Author-number  explained,  97; 
for  photographs,  189;  on 
shelf  list.  99. 

Author  table,  set  Cutter  author 

Author's  name,  in  accession 
book,  82;  in  catalog,  100;  in 
shelf  on  orde: 

69. 

Hallard's  klips.  1 17. 

numbering  machine,  82- 
83. 

Beginning  work,  things  needed 
in.  30-38. 

Beginnings  of  the  library.  9-10. 

Bills,  checking,  69,  83,  108. 

Binders  for  magazines,  63-64. 

Binding,  68,  110-114;  materi- 
als, 1 12-113;  cloth,  112-1 13; 
leather,    113;    keratol, 
sewing,       110— in;      \ 
112—113;  lettering,  113-114; 
periodicals,  112;  newspapers, 
112-113;   statistics  of,    no, 
rules  for.    1 13-1 14. 

Biography,  classification  of,  85. 

Blanks,  agreement,  36,  127- 
129;  order  slip,  68-69;  re- 
quest. 40.  70. 

Board,  see  Trustees. 

Book-buving,  see  Buying 
bo< 


194 


INDEX 


Book  committee,  150. 

Book  cards,  36,  124—125—126— 
127;  see  also  Book  slip. 

Book  dealers,  68,  71—72—73. 

Book-lists,  see  Lists. 

Book-numbers,  97. 

Book-plates,  108—109. 

Book-pockets,  36,  107,  109, 
124-125-126—127. 

Book-reviews,  35,  36,  108. 

Book-slip,  107,  109;  see  also 
Book  card. 

Book  supports,  78. 

Books,  as  useful  tools,  142; 
needed  in  beginning  work, 
30—35;  overdue,  126;  refer- 
ence, see  Reference  books; 
renewal  of,  126;  selection  of, 
see  Selection  of  books. 

Bookcases,  26-27;  steel,  29; 
wooden,  28. 

Borrowers,  age  limit,  167; 
cards  for,  36;  124-125,  127- 
128,  167—168;  index  to,  129; 
information  for,  145;  num- 
bers for,  125—126,  129; 
register  of,  36,  126,  129; 
responsibility  of,  128,  146. 

Buildings  and  grounds  com- 
mittee, 150. 

Buildings,  library;  see  Library 
buildings. 

Bulletins,  100,  109,  122,  138; 
see  also  Lists. 

Buying  books,  1 8,  68-73;  order- 
ing, 69,  72;  dealers,  68,  71— 
72—73;  agents,  71;  price,  70- 
71—72—73;  discounts,  68,  70, 
72—73;  editions,  68,  71—72; 
binding,  type,  quality  of 
paper,  68;  complete  sets,  71; 
series,  71;  second-hand 
books,  71;  fiction,  71,  73;  for 
children,  71,  73;  new  books, 
73;  when  to  buy,  73;  see 
also  Selection  of  books. 

Call-number,  defined,  99;  in 
book,  107,  109;  on  book-slip, 


107,  109,  124;  on  pocket, 
107,  109,  124;  on  label,  107, 
109;  in  accession  book,  99, 
109;  on  shelf-list,  99;  on  cat- 
alog-cards, 10 i,  103;  in 
charging  system,  125. 

Capitalization,  101. 

Card  catalog  rules,  31,  101- 
103;  for  photographs,  183- 
188. 

Card  pocket,  see  Book  pocket. 

Care  of  books,  brief  rules  for, 
80;  dusting  books,  79;  hand- 
ling books,  79,  107;  covering 
books,  79;  cutting  leaves,  79, 
108;  gas,  heat,  damp,  79. 

Carter's  ink,  37,  74. 

Cases,  see  B'ookcases;  Catalog 
cases. 

Catalog,  arrangement  of,  109; 
author,  101-102;  dictionary, 
103;  duplicate,  102;  on  cards, 
100;  printed,  100,  123;  sub- 
ject headings  for,  102—104; 
trays  for  holding,  104. 

Catalog  cards,  37,  100-105, 
109. 

Catalog  case,  37,  104. 

Catalog  rules,  31,  100—105. 

Cataloging  books,  100-105. 

Cataloging  photographs,  183- 
188. 

Chairs,  27-28 

Change  of  residence,  146 

Charging     system     explained , 

125- 

Checking  bills,  69,  108. 
Checking  the  library,   121. 
Children's  books,  see  Juvenile 

books. 

Children's     cards,      167. 
Children's  home  libraries,  176— 

Children's  privileges,  167. 
Children's  rooms,  167,  173. 
Circulating    department,     130, 

145- 

Class  number,  decimal,  87;  ex- 
pansive, 91;  explained,  85; 


INDEX 


195 


for  photographs,  189;  in 
accession  book,  82;  on  shelf 
list,  99;  in  catalog,  100. 

Classification,  defined,  84;  dec- 
imal, 85,  87-89;  expansive, 
85,  90-96;  of  photographs, 
189;  how  to  classify,  85- 
86;  biography,  85;  fiction, 
85;  history  and  travel,  85; 
juvenile  books,  85;  in  the 
catalog,  84;  on  the  shelves, 
84785-  . 

Classification  scheme,  37 

Cloth  bindings,  112-113. 

Club  women,  179. 

Club  work,  179. 

Clubs,  138;  constitutions  for, 
178;  organization  of,  178; 
programs,  178—179;  see  also 
Library  clubs,  literary  clubs, 
musical  clubs. 

Cole  size  card,  37,  101. 

Collating  books,  79,  108. 

Commissions,  state  library, 
I57-I58.  161-163. 

Community  and  the  library, 
10,  12. 

Complete  sets,  7 1 . 

Conversation    in    the    library, 

13°.  Mr- 
Co-operation  of  teachers,  167- 

169,  170-172. 
Copyright     date     on     catalog 

cards,  101. 

Covers  for  books,  79. 
Crocker  book  support,  78. 
Cross-reference  cards,   104. 
Cutter's  author  table,  37,  97; 

expansive  classification,  85, 

90-96;  rules  for  a  dictionary 

catalog,  31. 

Date,  copyright,  on  catalog 
cards,  101. 

Date  in  charging  system,  125, 
126,  127;  of  publication,  in 
accession  book,  82;  on  cat- 
alog cards,  101;  on  order 
slip,  69. 


Daters,  37,  125. 
Dating  slip,  125. 
Dealers,  see  Book  dealers. 
Decimal  classification,  85,  87- 

89. 

Delivery  room,  130. 
Dennison's  labels,  37. 
Depository  libraries,   118-119. 
Dewey,  or  Decimal  system  of 

classification,  85,  87-89. 
Dictionaries,   aid  in  reference 

work,  58. 
Dictionary    catalog,     Cutter's 

rules  for,  31;  value  of,  122; 

defined,  103. 
Discarded  books,  121. 
Discounts,  68,  70,  72-73. 
Disjoined  handwriting,  75-76. 
Duplicate  catalog,  102. 
Duplicates  for  school  use,  157. 
Dusting  books,  79. 
Duties  of  a  librarian,  134-135, 

152-153;  of  trustees,  18. 

Editions,  68,  71-72. 

Education  through  libraries, 
13,  132-133,  141,  166,  170- 
172,  176,  181;  see  also  Influ- 
ence of  the  library. 

Embossing  stamps,  106. 

Employes,  appointment  of,  18, 
152;  salaries  of ,  152;  suspen- 
sion of,  1 52. 

English  catalog,  31. 

Engravings,  137. 

Entertainments,  see  Library 
entertainments. 

Exhibits,  181. 

Expansive  classification  (Cut- 
ter), 85,  90-96. 

Expenditures,  151. 

Expiration  of  privileges,    129. 

Faxon,  F.  W.,  Use  of  periodi- 
cals in  reference  work,  59— 
61. 

Fiction,  author-numbers  for, 
97;  cataloging,  102;  cheap 
editions  of ,  7 1 ;  classifica- 


ig6 


INDEX 


tion  of,  85;  price  per  volume, 

73;  selecting,  45-46. 
Figures,  76-77. 
Finance  committee,  150. 
Fine  slip,  129. 
Fines,  126,  146. 
Fixtures  for  libraries,   26-27- 

28. 
Fletcher,  W.  I.,  Libraries  and 

recreation,  141. 
Folsom,    Channing,    how    the 

library  can  assist  the  school, 

170-172. 
Forfeiture  of  privileges,    146- 

I47-. 
Function  of  the  library,  12,  15- 

16,  132-133,  141,  157. 
Furniture  for  libraries,  27-28- 

29. 

Gallery  card,  for  painting  and 

sculpture,  186. 
Garfield,  J.  R.,  village  library 

successfully  managed,    143— 

144. 
Geological  depository  libraries, 

119. 

Gift  book,  1 08;  plates,  108. 
Gifts,  140;  acknowledgment  of , 

49,  82,  108,  153, 
Government     documents,     see 

Public  documents. 
Guarantor,  128,  167. 

Handwriting,    brief   rules   for, 

74-77- 

Hasse,  A.  R.,  public  docu- 
ments, 118—120. 

Henderson,  M.  R.,  Librarian 
as  host,  136-138. 

Higgins'     ink,  37,  74. 

History  and  travel,  classifica- 
tion of,  85. 

Home  libraries,  176-177. 

Hopkins,  J.  A.,  The  trained 
librarian  in  a  small  library, 
23-24. 

How  the  library  can  assist  the 
school  (Folsom),  170-172. 


Imprint,  for  photographs,  185, 
187;  oh  catalog  cards,  101. 

Index,  annual,  60;  monthly 
cumulative  book,  3 5;  Poole's, 
60;  Reader's  guide,  60;  rel- 
ative, 87;  to  borrowers,  129. 

Indexes,  their  use  taught,  169; 
to  periodicals,  60. 

Influence  of  the  library,  12; 
see  also  Education  through 
libraries. 

Information  for  borrowers,  145. 

Ink,  37,  74;  for  photograph 
labels,  190;  pads,  38,  106. 

Inquiries,  how  to   answer,  58. 

Inventory  taking,  121. 

Joined  handwriting,  75-76. 

Juvenile  books,  classification 
of,  85;  periodicals,  63;  price 
per  volume,  73;  selecting, 
45,  7i- 

Kent,  H.  W.,  Rules  for  the 
care  of  photographs,  182- 
191. 

Keratol  for  bindings,  113. 

Labeling  photographs,  189- 
190. 

Labels  for  backs  of  books,  106- 
107,  109;  gummed,  37;  ink 
for,  37,  74;  ink  for  photo- 
graph, 190;  varnishing,  107, 
109. 

Law  library,  9. 

League  of  Library  Commis- 
sions, publications  of,  34. 

Leather  for  bindings,  113. 

Lectures,  137,  157,  181. 

Legislation,  see  Library  legis- 
lation. 

Librarian,  advice  to  a,  134— 
135;  and  trustees,  18—19; 
annual  report  of,  153-154; 
appointment  of,  20,  23,  25; 
as  a  host  (Henderson),  136— 
138;  duties  of  a,  152;  month- 
ly report  of,  153;  qualifica- 


INDEX 


197 


tionsof,  20-22,  131,  164;  the 
trained  (Hopkins),  23-24. 

Libraries,  establishment  and 
maintenance  of,  155;  func- 
tion of,  12,  15-16,  132-133, 
141,  156;  management  of 
15,  19,  156. 

Libraries  and  communities,  10, 

I  2. 

Libraries  and  clubs,    178-179. 
Libraries    and   education,    13, 

132-133,    Mi. 

Libraries  and  politics,  156. 

Libraries  and  the  public,  15, 
130,  132-133. 

Libraries  and  recreation 
(Fletcher),  141. 

Libraries  and  schools,  13,  167- 
169,  170-172. 

Library  advertising,  see  Adver- 
tising a  library. 

Library  assistants,  apjxiint- 
ment  of,  18. 

Library  associations,  160-161. 

Library  beginnings,  9-10. 

Library  board,  see  Trustees. 

Library  buildings  and  the 
community,  26. 

Library  buildings,  architec- 
ture, 25-26;  convenience, 
26;  decoration,  26;  exterior, 
25-26;  fixtures,  26—27—28; 
furniture,  27-28—29;  inte- 
rior, 26—27;  partitions,  27; 
requirements,  25;  stairs,  27; 
windows,  26. 

L.  B.  book  support,  78. 

L.  B.  pamphlet  case,  116. 

L.  B.  steel  stacks,  41. 

Library  Bureau,  relation  to 
libraries  (Meleney),  39—42; 
catalog  of,  29,  32,  39-40; 
organization  of,  39;  publica- 
tions of,  40,  42;  cabinet 
works  of,  41 ;  card  factory  of, 
41 ;  consultation  department, 
39,  42;  employment  depart- 
ment, 39;  supply  depart- 
ment, 40. 


Library  clubs,  161. 

Library  entertainments,  136- 
138,  181. 

Library  journal  (monthly),  r6. 

Library  law,  9;  essentials  of  a 
good,  158-159;  outline  of  a 
good,  155;  see  also  Library 
legislation. 

Library  literature,  30-36,  40. 

Library  legislation  (Patten), 
155-1 59;  reference  list  on, 
158;  see  also  Library  law. 

Library  of  Congress  cards,  37, 
105. 

Library  patrons,  139. 

Library  policy,  15-16. 

Library  rooms,  25-26-27. 

Library  school  rules,  31. 

Library  schools  and  training 
classes,  aim  and  scope  of, 
164. 

Library  schools  and  training 
classes,  list  of,  165. 

Light  in  libraries,  26. 

List,  of  books  for  girls  and 
women,  1 78;  of  books  needed 
in  beginning  work,  30-35; 
of  periodicals  for  a  small 
library,  66-67;  of  periodicals 
needed  in  beginning  work, 
35-36;  of  reference  books, 
So— 57',  of  things  needed  in 
beginning  work,  36—38;  of 
things  to  be  done  to  prepare 
books  for  shelves,  108- 
109. 

Lists,  of  additions,  122;  for 
reference,  122—123,  167,  171; 
for  schools,  123,  167,  171; 
see  also  Bulletins. 

Literary  clubs  and  libraries 
(Moore),  178-180. 

Literature,  its  use,  142. 

Literature,  library,  see  Library 
literature. 

Loan  department,  130,  141. 

Local  history,  books  on,  48. 

Local  history  pamphlets,  116. 

Lost  cards,  146. 


198 


INDEX 


Magazine  binder,  63—64. 

Magazine  record,  in  blank  book, 
64-65;  on  cards,  64-65. 

Management  of  the  library,  15, 
19,  156. 

Manuscripts,  see  Ancient  man- 
uscripts. 

Marking  books,  106,   109. 

Meeting  of  board  of  trustees, 
148. 

Meleney,  G.  B.,  Relation  of  the 
Library  Bureau  to  libraries, 
39-42. 

Men's  and  Women's  clubs,  178. 

Mending,  see  Repair. 

Miscellaneous  libraries,  see  Re- 
mainder libraries. 

Missing  books,  121. 

Moore,  E.  L.,  Literary  clubs 
and  libraries,  178—180. 

Morocco  for  bindings,  112. 

Museums,  157,  181. 

Musical  clubs,  137,  178. 

Musical  entertainments,   137. 

Nation  (weekly),  36. 

National  educational  associa- 
tion, 166. 

Natural  history  collections, 
181. 

New  books,  73. 

New  York  state  library  com- 
mission, 150. 

New  York  Times,  36. 

Newspaper  lists,  100,  123. 

Newspapers,  binding  for,  112— 
113;  files  and  racks  for,  64; 
for  the  reading  room,  62. 

Non-depository  libraries,    118. 

Non-residents,  147. 

Novel  clubs,  178. 

Officers  of  board  of  trustees,  18. 
Open  shelves,  15,  25,  130,  132— 

133.  J73- 
Order  list,  108. 
Order  sheet,  69,  72. 
Order  slip,  68-69,  108. 
Overdue  books,  126,  146. 


Overdue  notice,   128. 
Ownership,  marks  of,  106-109. 

Pages,  cutting,  79,  108;  entry 

in  accession  book,  82. 
Painting    card,    author,     183- 
184;    gallery,     186;    school, 
186-187;  title,  185. 

Pamphlet  case,  116-117. 

Pamphlets,  cataloging,  116- 
117;  classifying,  116—117; 
klips  for,  117;  local  history, 
116. 

Paper,  best  quality  for  books, 
68. 

Paste,  37. 

Patten,  F.  C.,  Library  legisla- 
tion, 155-159. 

Patrons,  139. 

Penalties,  157. 

Perforating  stamp,  106. 

Periodicals,  binder  for,  63-64; 
binding  for,  112;  circulation 
of,  64;  cost,  64;  for  children, 
63;  indexes  to,  60;  list  for  a 
small  library,  66-67;  needed 
in  beginning  work,  35-36; 
record  of,  64—65;  use  in  ref- 
erence work,  59—60. 

Photographs,  137;  accession- 
ing, 182-183;  cataloging, 
182-188;  classifying,  189; 
labeling,  189-190;  storage, 
191;  handling,  191. 

Placards,   see  Signs. 

Place  of  publication,  in  acces- 
sion book,  82;  on  order  slip, 
69. 

Planning   library      buildings 
(Soule),  25-29. 

Pocket,  see  Book  pocket. 

Policy  of  the  library,  15-16. 

Politics  and  libraries,  156. 

Poole's  index,  60. 

Postal  notice,   126. 

Preliminary  work,   10. 

Preparing  books  for  the 
shelves,  106-109. 

President  of  library  board,  149. 


INDEX 


199 


Printed  catalogs,  100,  123. 

Printed  rules,   145. 

Privileges,  expiration  of,   129. 

Privileges  for  children,  167; 
forfeiture  of ,  146-147;  teach- 
ers, 146,  168. 

Process,  photograph,  183. 

Professional  books  for  teach- 
ers, 157. 

Public,  contact  with  the,  130; 
rules  for  the,  145-147. 

Public  documents,  48;  care  in 
a  library,  119-120;  collect- 
ing, 48;  congressional,  118- 
120;  departmental,  118-120; 
how  issued,  1 18;  to  whom  is- 
sued, 118-119. 

Publication,  date  of;  see  Date 
of  publication. 

Publication,  place  of;  see  Place 
of  publication. 

Publisher's  name,  in  accession 
book,  82;  on  order  slip,  69. 

Punctuation,  101. 

Purchase  of  books,  sec  Buying 
books. 

Qualifications  of  librarian,  20- 

22,  131,  164. 
Qualifications  of  trustees,  — . 

Quorum  of  library  board, 
148. 

Rare  bindings,  collections,  1 8 1 . 

Rare  books,  48—49. 

Readers,  27. 

Reader's  guide,  60. 

Reading  habits,   171-172. 

Reading  lists,  see  Reference 
lists. 

Reading  room,  character  of, 
62;  for  children,  167,  173; 
newspapers  for,  62;  periodi- 
cals for,  63—64;  rules  for, 
147;  value  of,  12—13 

Receptions,  181. 

Recreation,  141. 

Reference  books,  for  a  small 
library,  50-57;  for  schools, 


157,  170,  175;  how  indicated, 
146;  selecting,  43. 

Reference  department,   147. 

Reference  list  on  library  legis- 
lation, 1 58. 

Reference  lists,  for  schools, 
123,  167,  171;  on  cards,  59; 
special  subject,  122. 

Reference  work,  for  children, 
169,  170,  173,  175;  sugges- 
tions. 58;  use  of  dictionaries, 
58;  use  of  periodicals,  59- 
60. 

Register  of  borrowers,  see  Bor- 
rowers. 

Regulations,  see  Rules  for  the 
public. 

Relation  of  the  Library  Bu- 
reau to  libraries  (Meleney), 

39-42. 

Relative  index,  87. 

Remainder  libraries,   118. 

Renewal  of  books,  126,  146. 

Repair,  114-115. 

Report,  annual,  154;  of  libra- 
rian, 153—154;  of  trustees, 
151-152. 

Request  blanks,  49,  70. 

Responsibility  of  borrowers, 
128,  146,  167. 

Rooms,  library,  25—26—27. 

Rubber  stamps,  38,  106. 

Rules,  accession-book,  31,  82; 
card  catalog,  31,  101;  for  a 
dictionary  catalog,  31,  103; 
for  binding,  113—114;  for 
care  of  books,  80;  for  govern- 
ment of  trustees  and  em- 
ployes, 148-153;  for  hand- 
writing, 74—77;  for  the  care 
of  photographs  (Kent),  182- 
191;  for  the  public,  15,  130, 
145-147;  library  school,  31; 
shelf -list,  31,  98—99;  for 
planning  library  buildings 
(Soule),  25-29. 

Sargent's  reading  for  the 
young,  40,  60. 


200 


INDEX 


School  card  for  painting  and 

sculpture,  186-187. 
School  libraries,  157,  170,  174- 

175- 
Schoolroom        libraries,        see 

School  libraries. 
Schools  and  libraries,  13,  167— 

169,  170—172,  174. 
Schools,    reference   books   for 

157,  170,  175. 
Schools,  reference  lists  for,  123, 

167,  171. 

Second-hand  books,  71. 
Secretary  of  library  board,  149. 
Selection  of  books,  extra  copies, 

46,  48;    fiction,    45—46;    for- 
children,    45;    for  reference, 
43;    history,    travel,    litera- 
ture,  45;   local  history,    48; 
natural    science,    47;    price, 
44-45;    proportion    in    each 
department,  47;  public  docu- 
ments, 48;  rare  books,   48— 
49;  request  blanks,   49,   70; 
suggestions,   43;  with  refer- 
ence to  the  community,  44, 

47.  735  see  also  Buying  books. 
Series,  71. 

Shelf-list  cards,  38,  99. 

Shelf-list  rules,  31,  83,  98-99. 

Shelf-list  sheets,  38,  98. 

Shelves,  for  folios  and  quartos, 
27;  form,  27;  height,  26; 
size,  27. 

Signs,  62,  130. 

Size  card,  37. 

Size  letter,  101. 

Size  notation  for  photographs, 
183,  189—190. 

Size  of  board  of  trustees,  17. 

Societies,  see  Clubs. 

Soule,  C.  C.,  Rules  for  plan- 
ning library  buildings,  25— 
29;  trustees,  17,  19. 

Specialists,  137. 

Stafford's  ink,  74. 

Stacks,  28,  41. 

Stamp,  embossing,  106;  per- 
forating, 106;  rubber,  38, 


1 06;     rubber,     for     labeling 

photographs,  190. 
Stamping  books,   106,   109. 
State      library      commissions, 

157-158,  161-163. 
State  library  associations,  161. 
Storage  of  photographs,    190. 
Study  clubs,   178. 
Style    card    for    architecture, 

1 88. 

Subject  card,  illustration,  103. 
Subject     headings,     32,     102- 

104. 

Subject-list,  102. 
Supplementary     reading     for 

schools,  157,  170. 
Supplies,  29-30—38,  60. 
Supports,  78. 

Tables,  27. 

Tax    levy    for    libraries,    155— 

156. 

Teachers'  cards,  168. 
Teachers,  co-operation  of,  167- 

169—170—172. 

Teachers'  privileges,  146,  168. 
Teachers,    professional    books 

for,  157. 
Things    needed    in    beginning 

work,  36-38. 
Time  limit  for  retaining  books, 

146. 
Title,   in   accession   book,    82; 

in  catalog,  101 ;  on  order  slip, 

69;  on  shelf-list,  99. 
Title    card,    illustration,    102; 

for    architecture,     187;     for 

painting  and  sculpture,  185- 

186. 

Title-lists,  102,  123. 
Tools,  30-38. 

Tools,  books  as  useful,  142. 
Trained    librarian    in    a   small 

library  (Hopkins),  23-24. 
Training  classes,  164—165. 
Transfer  of  accounts,  138,  146. 
Traveling  libraries,   158,   180. 
Tray,  for  book  cards,  125;  for 

catalog  cards,  104. 


INDEX  201 

Trustees,  appointment  of,  156;  Village     library      successfully 

committees,  18,  150;  duties,          managed     (Garfield),     143- 

18;  meeting  of  board  of,  148;  144. 

officers,    1 8,    149;    qualifica-  Volume     entry     in     accession 

tions,  17;  relations  with  the          book,  81. 

librarian,    19;  reports,    151"- 

152;  size  of  board,  17;  term  Women  on  library  board,  144. 

of  office,  17,  156.  Women's  clubs,   178-179. 

Two-book  system,  128.  Work-number,  see  Book-num 
Type,  size  of,  68.  ber. 

Writing,  see  Handwriting. 
I      S.    documents,    see   Public 

documents.  Young  ladies'  clubs,  178. 

Young  men's  clubs,  178. 

Varnish  for  labels.  107.  Young  people,  reading  for;  see 
Vertical  hand.  71  Juvenile  books. 


